Feel For You
by starsword
Summary: AU My take on series 2 of Primeval. Will see the growth of relationships, Nick figuring out what happened to Claudia, more anomalies, and a reappearance of Helen. I suck at summaries. Rating may change. ON HOLD
1. Talking Things Through

**Chapter 1 –****Talking Things Through**

Nick Cutter sat on a log, his head resting in his hands. Why could no one remember who Claudia was? He glanced at the anomaly; ever since Helen had disappeared back through it the anomaly had been growing and shrinking, but never fading. The thought had crossed his mind that Helen had been responsible for Claudia's disappearance, but he hoped it wasn't true. That would mean a trip through the anomaly to change the past back to how it was supposed to be if she had. He looked up as Stephen stopped in front of him. For a few seconds the two men looked at each other in silence, and then Stephen held out his thermos.

'Thirsty?'

Nick took the offered flask cup and held it in his hands, the warmth of the drink helping to warm his hands against the slight chill in the forest.

'I'm sorry, Nick,' Stephen said as he sat next to the Professor, 'I wanted to tell you but I never felt it was the right time. You were grieving for Helen and I didn't want to ruin your glowing view of her. I wanted you to remember her as a good wife, not as a cheating bitch.'

Nick smiled sourly and looked at Stephen, 'Is that your excuse?'

'I'm not making excuses, Nick, I'm telling you the truth.'

'I'm finding that hard to believe.'

'When have I ever lied to you?' Stephen demanded.

'This whole business with Helen-'

'I never told you I _didn't_ have an affair with her,' Stephen said, 'I never mentioned anything to do with it so I _didn't_ lie to you. That's also why I never lied to you in the whole course of our friendship. Do you have any idea what this has been doing to me since we became friends? Do you know what she _did_ to me after it happened?'

Stephen broke off and looked off into the forest, 'I'm sorry, Nick.'

He stood up and Nick watched his friend, saw the pain in his eyes. 'Sit down, Stephen, and tell me the truth about what happened between you and Helen.'

Stephen looked at him, and Nick held his gaze until Stephen sat back down and, looking down at the leaf litter under their feet, he started to speak.

'She was my lecturer and I'd just read one of your papers on evolution and the pieces that don't fit in Darwin's theory and I stayed behind one day to talk to her about it. She told me to come to her office the next day and I agreed. This carried on for about a month, I'd go into her office every few days and we'd talk about certain theories; I enjoyed it, I thought I was getting extra help with my course and I thought we were becoming friends. Sometimes she'd talk about you, saying things about you that I desperately wanted to argue about, even though I didn't know you I didn't think you could be as bad as she was making out. She said some of your theories had no foundations, and that you threw yourself into your work too much; it made me slightly angry because I'd read many of your theories and agreed with most of them. We'd end up having debates over them. Then one night she put on the wounded, unloved wife act and I... I tried to comfort her and it went further than I wanted it to. It happened right at the end of my degree and when I next went to see her...' Stephen paused, it was obvious to Nick that Helen had obviously upset the man beside him now, and from what Stephen was telling him it seemed Helen had just used her younger student.

'She told me our night had been fun, that I was sweet but she had more important things to do than worry about one of her students that had crazy ideas and supported theories with no basis. She was so cold and taunting. At the time I thought maybe I'd come to love her, but after that day I knew I couldn't. She'd used me, I don't know what for or why, but she did and it hurt. Then she went missing and I felt guilty about thinking about her like that. I saw the job going for your lab technician and I applied,' Stephen looked at Nick, 'You know the rest. We became friends and I wondered what had made Helen say all those things about you being an uncaring husband. I saw how you grieved for her all these years and I've felt guilty since the day I got the job that you should be working with me when I'd slept with your wife. But I couldn't leave the job, Nick, you became too good a friend for me to lose and I loved the work too much. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...'

Stephen buried his face in his hands, unable to look at the Professor next to him. Nick sighed and looked over at the anomaly that Helen had disappeared through. He knew what Helen had done; she'd used Stephen as a way to get back at Nick for loving his work, maybe she would have told him she'd had an affair at some point if they had had many more arguments over their work. He'd known the younger man had had his heart broken in the past, something that had caused him to have a string of girlfriends who had cared more about his looks and body than him as a person but Nick had never interfered. Stephen was a private person, preferring to keep his personal life to himself, and it had taken Nick a long time to break down the walls Stephen had so carefully built around himself. Now he could understand why. Helen was a master at tying people in emotional knots, and if she'd acted exactly as Stephen had said (which Nick was more inclined to believe than not seeing as Stephen had never _actually_ lied to him before as he'd never mentioned his relationship with Helen outside the fact that she'd been his lecturer) then he could see why it had affected him so deeply, especially since he'd been at least eight years younger at the time. Nick placed his arm around Stephen's shoulder and brought his friend into a hug.

'Come on,' he said as he felt the younger man return the embrace, 'I trust you, Stephen, and I know what Helen was like, even if I did want to keep hold of this glowing picture of her. I can't forget what you did but I can forgive it. Just don't give me a reason to think I've done the wrong thing, okay?'

Stephen smiled at the Professor, 'Thank you.'

Nick clapped him on the back, 'You've done more for me than you know, Stephen, and since I've known you I've trusted you more than anyone else, so I don't see why I still can't.'

The sound of Abby's voice calling for Nick made the two men look up; the anomaly was glowing brighter and a dark shape was forming in it, as if something was coming through. Both of them leapt to their feet as the SAS men ran into formation around the anomaly. As the guns were being set up something very large ran out of the anomaly, crushing two of the men. Another Gorgonopsid.

'Everyone get to the cars!' Nick shouted and there was instant movement as everyone made to escape the angry predator. Stephen made a quick detour to grab a gun as the SAS continued to fire at the Gorgonopsid (_A/N: Sorry but I had to put this note in. Is it just me or in the first __episode when the Gorgonopsid attacks and the SAS are firing at it none of them can kill it and yet Stephen [who isn't as well trained as the SAS are can kill it with a few bullets when not all of them actually hit it in a place where it could be killed. Am I the only one who is a little confused that about ten trained SAS people can't hit a giant dinosaur and yet one fairly untrained guy can? Ok slight rant over now)_. Eventually instinct kicked in and the men made a break for it, leaving the dinosaur to run for who he liked. And at that moment it was Nick Cutter.

'Cutter!' Stephen shouted, trying to alert the man to the dinosaur that was charging at him; Nick looked up and changed course, trying to outmanoeuvre the larger creature. He felt something knock into his shoulder that sent him flying behind some bushes and the sound of gunfire. The sound of a deafening roar was followed by silence that was broken by a sickening thud as something fell near him. Nick looked up and saw Stephen lying on his front at the base of a tree.

'Stephen!'

Nick half crawled, half walked, to the younger man and checked for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when he found one. He started to check his friend for injuries as everyone else slowly realised the dinosaur was lying dead just outside the anomaly.

'We need to get him to a hospital,' Nick said as one of the SAS men came over, 'He's still alive.'

& & & & & &

A few hours later Nick Cutter was sat in a hospital ward watching Stephen Hart sleeping in the bed in front of him. It turned out that Stephen had been thrown back against the tree and the whole of his back was badly bruised, he also had a gash on the back of his head and a small puncture wound on the small of his back where a branch had been broken off the tree leaving a small stump that had been thrust into his back when he'd hit the trunk. He was lucky not to have broken any bones but the doctors were still worried in case he developed an infection. Nick looked up as a coffee cup was handed to him; he smiled at Abby who took the chair next to him.

'How is he?' she asked, Nick looked at her as she remained focused on Stephen; she was worried about him, and she obviously cared more than she let on. He had guessed Stephen had been developing stronger feelings for the blonde, but he had never confronted Stephen about it.

'Can you watch him for me? I need to get home and check some things over,' Nick asked, standing up to leave. Abby had the deer caught in a headlights look for a few minutes.

'I don't think I should... I mean...'

'Abby what happened between me, Stephen, and Helen is between us. I've forgiven Stephen, he knows I have, and it's going to stay in the past and not come back,' he told her, 'He told me what happened and I can see that it was Helen's fault more than his. If I can forgive him why can't you?'

Abby looked down at the sleeping Stephen, 'I never... I never had to forgive him, Cutter. I just don't understand anything that happens with us... sometimes I can tell what he's thinking or feeling and other times I don't have a clue and sometimes I never know where I stand with him...' she trailed off, realising she was starting to ramble.

'Abby, Stephen's a very private person, Helen made sure he was secretive after the affair, I can see that now. But I think you might be able to help him in more ways than you'd probably think of. He's gone from one bad girlfriend to the next, none of them really caring about him as a person. Please don't be one of the crowd.'

Abby smiled sadly at him, 'That makes two of us,' she said. Nick sat back down in the chair and looked at her, studying her face. Abby realised he was waiting for her to elaborate.

'I usually end up with the guys that are good looking, funny when they want to be... and more interested in their images than in me. They want me to stop working at the zoo and go work in an office or something. They don't want an independent woman who works cleaning out animal pens and works with reptiles; they certainly wouldn't want a woman who works investigating anomalies,' she said with a smile, 'In a way I'm hoping Stephen won't turn out to be one of the crowd, as you put it.'

Nick smiled and stood up, placing his hand on her shoulder, 'When he wakes up you two need to talk a few things through. Tell him thank you from me, and tell him he didn't have to save my life I'd already forgiven him.'

Abby smiled and nodded, watching the Professor walk out of the ward before turning her gaze back to the sleeping man in the bed she had perched on. She stood up and leant over to push a few strands of his hair back, running her fingers down the side of his face before sitting in the chair, watching him as she got lost in her thoughts. From outside the ward Nick Cutter watched the young woman with a smile on his face. For once Stephen had chosen the right woman to set his heart on, all he had to do now was tell her. Nick turned and walked out of the hospital, his thoughts now on the one person he wished he knew was at this moment. Claudia Brown.

_A/N:__ Heya, well this is the first chapter finished. Thank you to everyone who's reading this. Please review I want to know what you think. Next chapter__ should be up soon. Plan for the next chapter:_

_Stephen wakes up __and he and __Nick __talk_

_Connor moves out of Abby's flat for a week to visit his mum_

_Please, please, please review. If there's anything you want to happen tell me and I'll see if I can somehow fit it into the story. No promises though._

_Ciao for now,_

_Starsword_


	2. Things Left Unsaid

**Chapter 2 – ****Things Left Unsaid**

The first thing Stephen was aware of when he woke up was the sunlight falling on his face from the window behind his bed. Blinking a few times until his eyes adjusted to the light he then became aware of someone holding his hand and warmth spreading up his left side. He looked over and saw Abby asleep in her chair, slumped over to rest her arms and head on the bed. Her head was rested on her one arm that had found its way to rest against his side and her other hand was rested on top of his. Stephen ran his thumb over the top of her hand, smiling to himself as he watched her sleeping peacefully; he looked up as Nick walked into his room, placing a finger on his lips and pointing at Abby. Nick smiled and nodded, quietly walking to the other chair and sitting down.

'How are you feeling?' Nick asked him, Stephen grinned.

'Like I've been used to swat an extremely energetic fly,' he replied. Nick laughed softly; Stephen pointed to his jacket that a nurse had put over the back of the chair and Nick passed it to him. He helped him sit up and then Stephen draped the coat over Abby's sleeping form, still holding onto her hand and lightly running his thumb over the back.

'You need to tell her, Stephen,' Nick said, Stephen looked at him questioningly.

'What do you mean?' he asked; the older man rolled his eyes.

'I've seen the way both of you keep shooting glances at each other and exchanging smiles,' he explained, 'It's obvious Abby likes you and it's obvious you like her, so why don't you tell her how you feel?'

Stephen looked down at the girl, 'I don't deserve her, Nick, and I don't deserve your friendship either.'

Nick moved to sit on Stephen's bed, 'Look at me Stephen,' the younger man complied, 'All the time I've known you, you have never given me any reason to doubt your loyalty to me or your friendship. I know you a lot better then I knew you when you had the affair with Helen; and to be honest Helen and I were going through a rough patch and we were growing apart. You're brave, you're loyal, and you're a good friend, Stephen, why wouldn't you deserve her?'

Stephen felt a suspicious wetness forming in the corner of his eyes at the man's small speech.

'Thank you,' he said, and the professor brought him into a hug, mindful of the injury on his back.

'You still haven't answered the question,' Nick pointed out; Stephen looked at Abby for a few seconds, lost in thought, before he answered.

'She's too good for me, Nick,' he replied, 'She's pretty, smart, funny, she speaks her mind and she won't let people push her around. How could I be good enough for her? I spend most of my time wandering around the rainforest or chasing after dinosaurs. She deserves someone who'll be there for her and can look after her.'

Nick sighed; it seemed bringing the younger man to his senses was going to take longer than he first thought.

'Listen to me, Stephen,' he said, 'I've already had a wife, and we grew apart and should have divorced before she even went missing, I can see that now because I was permanently mourning her death when I should have been living my life. I found someone whom I could love and now she seems to have disappeared and none of you know her. So please, don't be an idiot and wait forever, you don't have that long, tell her how you feel and, for once, put yourself in front of everyone else and get the girl you want instead of the girl who just wants to use you for her own purposes. Abby likes you for you, not for your looks or anything else, please don't let her go, for your own sake Stephen.'

Stephen held his friend's eyes for a long time before he nodded. At that moment Abby started to stir and the two men watched as she blinked awake.

Abby felt herself being pulled from sleep by the sound of two people talking quietly above her; she could feel something running across the back of her hand and it soothed her, making it hard for her to find the will to open her eyes. As she crept further from sleep she became aware of a small weight across her shoulders and a very familiar smell she couldn't quite place surrounding her; it's presence a comforting one that was whispering for her to return to her sleep. Eventually she managed to prise her eyes open and she blinked as the sunlight fell into them; she sat up and blearily noted both Stephen and Nick watching her with amused smiles on their faces.

'Morning,' Stephen said, a teasing gleam in his brilliant blue eyes. Abby rolled her eyes.

'Afternoon more like,' she replied, 'It was the end of the morning when I fell asleep.'

Stephen frowned, 'How long have I been asleep then?'

'The evening and night of the Gorgonopsid attack,' Nick answered, 'All of yesterday, last night, this morning and most of this afternoon.'

'I didn't think I'd hit my head that hard,' he mused, Nick rolled his eyes.

'I'm surprised anything knocked you unconscious with that thick skull,' he said, a smile threatening to break through.

'Hey watch it,' Stephen said, 'It was this thick skull that stopped you becoming Gorgonopsid supper.'

Abby rolled her eyes at the banter between them, 'I'm going to get a coffee,' she said, 'Anyone else want one?'

Nick stood up, 'I'll get them Abby, how do you take yours?'

'Are you sure?' she asked, Nick nodded, 'In that case, white no sugar please.'

'Same as Stephen,' he said, he looked at Stephen who nodded yes and then walked out of the room after a meaningful glance as Stephen. Silence stretched out between them for a few seconds, Abby stretched and the coat fell from around her shoulders. It was then that she realised what the familiar smell had been as she had woken up; she picked it up and draped it over the arm of the chair.

'Thanks,' she said, as she turned back to face Stephen. He shrugged.

'No problem. How long have you been here?' he asked, Abby blushed and looked down. Stephen looked at her with a piercing gaze.

'Abby have you actually gone home yet?' he asked her, her embarrassed silence answered his question. He shook his head, 'You shouldn't worry so much about me, Abby.'

Abby felt her heart sink to her feet at those words. Did that mean he didn't care about her as she hoped he did? Stephen saw an odd expression cross her face and reached out to take hold of her hand again; she turned to face him and he could have sworn he saw her blink away tears.

'Abby? What's wrong?' he asked her; Abby shook her head.

'Nothing,' she replied, 'I should be getting back home, check on Rex and the snakes...'

Realisation hit Stephen straight in the chest and he knew he'd lose her a little more if he didn't say something now.

'Abby I didn't mean for you to leave...,' he didn't know what he should say; ever since Helen had thrown him into emotional turmoil eight years ago he'd never had a good relationship and never known what to say.

'Stephen I should really be going-'

'Abby, don't go-'

'I should change out of these things as well-'

'Please stay-'

'I'll come back tomorrow-' and she walked away from the bed before he could say another word.

'I think I love you,' he croaked quietly as he watched her disappear around the corner, 'But I'm scared...'

& & & & &

Abby closed the door to her flat and quickly shed her boots and jacket as the heat hit her; she was more used to the heat now so it wasn't as much of a shock as it used to be. She saw Connor sitting on the couch packing a bag and walked over.

'Where are you going?' she asked him, sitting down next to him.

'I got a call from Mum asking me to go and visit her for a week or so,' he replied, 'She's been feeling a bit rough and asked if I could go and look after her until my brother goes to see her next week.'

'What's wrong with her?' Abby asked, Connor shrugged.

'She's just feeling a bit off,' he replied, 'She should be fine though. Probably just a stomach bug. No parasites though.'

Abby gave him a small smile, 'Do you want me to come with you?'

Connor shook his head, 'No, it'll be fine. You stay here and look after Stephen and Cutter. God knows they need more looking after than I do. How is Stephen?'

'He's awake,' she replied, 'And seems to be fine.'

Connor frowned, 'What's wrong Abby?'

She shook her head, sniffing slightly, she gave Connor a hug, 'Don't be too long, okay? I must be mad but it's going to be quiet without you here.'

Suddenly Abby couldn't hold it in any longer and she started to sob on Connor's shoulder. The student was taken aback and did the best he could, placed an arm around her and stroked her back.

'Abby, seriously what's wrong?' he asked her. Abby pulled back with a slight laugh.

'I'm just being silly,' she replied, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, 'Give your Mum my love and I hope she gets better soon.'

Connor nodded and watched her carefully, 'Abby are you sure you don't want me to stay?'

Abby shook her head, 'Your Mum needs you more than I do, Con, just look after yourself and your Mum and get back quickly alright?'

He sighed but nodded, 'Alright, just phone me if you need anything.'

She smiled and kissed him on the cheek, 'Thanks, Con.'

He nodded and stood up, 'I'm catching the bus to London. See you in about a week.'

'Do you want me to drive you?' she asked, Connor shook his head.

'Student pass remember? I'll be fine Abby just look after yourself,' he paused at the door and then turned to look at her. 'Abby, don't take this the wrong way but... any guy would have to be nuts not to like you back.'

With that he was gone, leaving Abby alone with her thoughts; Rex chirped and flew over, landing in her lap. She pulled him to her chest and hugged the little Coelurosaurarus tightly, a few tears leaking onto his scaly body. He chirped questioningly at her, his head cocked to one side.

'Rex, don't get mixed up in relationships... way too complicated and emotionally draining,' she told the dinosaur; Rex just chirped in reply and brushed his head against her hand. Abby watched the little lizard and opened her mouth, letting everything out.

'I mean it's not so bad if you know they like you back but if you don't then you have no idea where you stand with them and it makes working with them so difficult. The worst thing is he's really good looking and smart, Rex, he's funny and he's brave, and when he smiles it makes me feel all warm inside,' she hugged the lizard closer, 'But I don't want to be with anyone, Rex, every time I have I end up getting hurt and if I _did_ end up with Stephen I know he could hurt me worse than all the others, because I've never felt so strongly about someone before.'

The little creature chirped and rubbed his head against her, chirped again and tilted his head to the side as if to ask her if she was alright. Abby laughed.

'Oh Rex, who needs a boyfriend when they have you?'

The doorbell rang and Abby placed the lizard back in his cage before going down to answer it. She was surprised to see Nick Cutter standing there, she opened the door further.

'Do you want to come in?' she asked, Nick shook his head.

'I was wondering if you or Connor would mind going to sit with Stephen tonight,' he said, 'The nurse said he was having nightmares sometimes when he was asleep earlier today and I wanted to make sure he had someone with him just in case.'

'Connor's gone to see his Mum,' Abby said, 'She's ill and he'll be away until next week.'

'Would you mind doing it for me Abby?' he asked her; he noticed her trapped animal look and wondered what had been said between the two of them.

'I don't know if I should...' Abby paused, realising that it would lead to awkward questions if she didn't go, and knowing that he would be asleep most of the time anyway and she probably wouldn't have to speak to him she relented, 'Alright I'll just wash and change and I'll be down there.'

Nick smiled, 'Thanks Abby, you're an angel.'

Abby smiled back as the Professor walked away, wondering how she was going to get through tonight.

_A/N: Well that's the second chapter done. What do you think? Good, bad, should be burnt in the worst chapter ever pile? __Please R&R I really want to know what people think seeing as this is my first multi chaptered __Primeval__fic_

_Coming up in the next chapter:_

_Stephen's discharged from hospital_

_Stephen and Abby finally have that talk Nick wanted them to have._

_Ciao for now,_

_Starsword_


	3. A Place To Stay

**Chapter 3 – ****A Place To Stay**

Abby walked along the corridor where Stephen's room was and was stopped by one of the nurses.

'Are you here to see Stephen Hart?' she asked; Abby nodded, a little confused.

'Oh good, we were wondering if someone could take him home tonight. You see we need the beds, we're full to bursting, and he'll be fine as long as he has someone staying with him,' she explained. Abby wondered if some higher beings were playing a joke with her.

'Err... maybe we should talk with him about it... so he knows what's happening,' Abby suggested, the nurse nodded and Abby followed her into Stephen's room. She didn't look at him as the nurse explained to him what they wanted to do; when she stopped talking Abby looked over and caught Stephen's gaze.

'Do you want to phone Cutter and ask if I can stay round his?' he asked her; Abby knew she had a choice, either say yes and let him stay round Cutter's or say no and get him to stay with her. Connor wasn't staying with her for a week and Stephen would be well enough to go back to his by then, surely, and he knew about Rex so there would be no awkward questions about him. But could she honestly offer for him to stay with her with her feelings not even clear to her at the moment?

'Abby?' She blinked out of her thoughts to see Stephen watching her closely as the nurse left the room to sign his discharge papers.

'Sorry...' she worried her bottom lip between her teeth, 'Don't bother Cutter, you can come and stay round mine. Connor's gone to visit his Mum so there's enough room for you.'

She could have sworn she saw relief pass over his face but dismissed it as his normal expressionless mask came back.

'Are you sure? I don't mind calling Cutter if you-'

'I can ask the nurse what I have to do to dress your injuries while you pack and you'll be close to the university in case another anomaly is sighted,' she said, wondering why she arguing the case so much. Stephen studied her for a few seconds before nodding.

'If you're sure, Abby, I'd be really grateful,' he said; something in his eyes made Abby shiver slightly, not sure whether it was a good or bad thing she smiled and nodded.

'I'll go talk to the nurse,' she said, 'You better get packed.'

Stephen nodded a smile on his face, 'Thanks, Abby.'

& & & & & &

Half an hour later Abby was carrying Stephen's bag to the car, Stephen walking a little slower behind her. She put the bag in the boot and then went around to help Stephen into her mini; she grinned a bit as he ducked down.

'Not really the best of cars for you is it?' she observed, trying not to laugh as he managed to fit his six foot plus frame into the mini.

'This is why we have a big SUV,' he said, Abby laughed as she walked around to her door. When both doors were slammed shut she started up the engine and drove out of the hospital car park.

'So how many numbers have found their way into your bag?' she asked, laughing at his questioning look.

'Please tell me you _did_ notice the looks all of the nurses were giving you?' she asked. She laughed disbelievingly as he shook his head.

'I was more interested in other things than any looks I was getting from the nurses,' he replied; Abby looked over at him, one eyebrow raised questioningly.

'Like what?' she asked; Stephen looked out of the windscreen and shrugged.

'Nothing really,' he replied; Abby sighed.

'If it was more interesting than the girls who were checking you out then I'm sure it was more than nothing,' she said; Stephen looked over at her, a teasing gleam in his eye and she wondered what she'd gotten herself into.

'I suppose the question really is how _you_ noticed the girls checking me out,' he said; Abby cursed silently.

'Hard not to,' she replied, acting nonchalant. Stephen laughed.

'Thanks for looking after me Abby,' he said, repeating his words from a few months ago and taking the hand that rested on the gear stick, she looked at him and saw the same gleam in his eye that had been in there at the hospital and she felt her hand tingling. The lights changed and the moment was broken as Abby continued to drive back to her flat.

Soon they parked up and Abby opened her door, going round to the boot to get his bag. Stephen had only just closed the door as she fished her keys out of her bag and put them into the door, turning the lock and opening it wide enough for him to get past her. At the top of the stairs she pulled open the sliding door and pulled it back across after them.

'You can stay in my bed,' she said, 'It's upstairs. I'll sleep on the couch like Connor does.'

Stephen turned to face her, 'Abby I'll take the couch. I may have just come out of hospital but you are _not_ giving me your bed.'

Abby put her hands on her hips and glared up at him, 'You need to recover and you'll do that better in a bed than on the couch, now get up those stairs and put your bag by the bed.'

Stephen took a step closer, 'Abby I am not sleeping in your bed, I'll take the couch.'

Abby walked up to him and poked him in the chest to emphasize her words, 'You're in the bed. End of conversation. Now do you want tea or coffee?'

They stood glaring at each other in defiance for a few seconds, she knew he wasn't happy about taking her bed but there was no way she was going to make him sleep on the couch, not when he'd just been released from hospital.

'If you want a shower I can find some towels for you to use. There's some soap and shampoo in the bathroom, you'll have to put up with the girly smell for tonight I'm afraid, we can go round yours tomorrow and pick up some more things. Do you want anything to eat? I can have it cooking while you're in the shower.'

Stephen smiled and shook his head, 'I can find my own way around a kitchen, Abby, you don't have to wait on me hand and foot.'

'After tonight I won't. But seeing as it's your first night out of hospital I'll make an exception,' she replied, taking a step back and going to find some towels for him to use. Their close proximity was starting to make it hard for her to breath. She returned a few minutes later with two fluffy towels in her arms.

'What do you want to eat?' she asked him, handing over the towels; Stephen shrugged.

'I'm used to coming home and heating up some portions I've kept in the freezer, so anything will be a great change,' he replied. Abby nodded.

'Spaghetti Bolognaise?' she asked; Stephen grinned.

'You're an angel.'

Abby laughed, 'I've been told that before.'

Stephen frowned, 'By whom?'

Abby just smiled and walked into the kitchen, she opened a cupboard and took out a pan; she put the pan on the side and squealed as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her against a hard body.

'Let go!' she laughed, trying to pull his arms from around her, 'Stephen let me go and go have your shower. I can't cook with you holding onto me!'

Stephen let go of her, 'When I come back out we'll carry on this conversation.'

'What conversation?' she asked, grinning at him as he walked into the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later and Abby was waiting for the Bolognaise finish cooking when Stephen walked out of the bathroom; her eyes widened and she swallowed subconsciously when she saw he was only wearing a towel around his waist, the other was around his shoulders and he was using one end to towel dry his hair. He held up his clothes with a sheepish expression.

'Can I put these in to wash?' he asked, Abby took a few seconds to process what he'd said and nodded.

'I'll put them in with my load tomorrow morning,' she said, taking the clothes from him and placing them in front of the washing machine.

'I'll go get dressed,' Stephen said, walking up the stairs. Abby let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding; she turned to stir the bolognaise as she tried to get her thoughts in order. She couldn't get the image of Stephen out of her head, the towel riding low on his hips, his toned stomach and muscular chest and arms. Abby shook her head, she really didn't need to be thinking about this right now, not when he was going to be crashing at her flat for a week.

'Abby, are you alright?'

Abby spun around and saw him standing only a few steps away, 'What? Sorry... I was a million miles away...'

Stephen closed the gap between them and placed his hands on her arms.

'Abby if you don't want me here just say and I'll go, you don't have to-'

'It's fine, I was just thinking... about work, wondering where I'm going to be tomorrow and if I have to go back to the bug house...' she trailed off her fast thought up excuse.

'So when you mentioned that study on insect behaviour when we faced those spiders you weren't making it up?' he asked, smiling slightly.

'If you call studying the life cycle of parasites in elephant dung a study of insect behaviour,' she replied. Stephen raised his eyebrows.

'Sounds unmissable,' he commented, Abby laughed.

'That's exactly what I said when Tim told me...' she trailed off, turning back to the bolognaise. She hadn't really had time to come to terms with her boss' death, had hardly had time to think about it; now, mentioning that moment all those months ago when she'd seen the file on Rex that Tim had dropped that had led her to the anomalies, to Cutter, Connor, and to Stephen, realisation hit home hard. She heard Stephen walk up behind her and place a hand on her shoulder.

'Abby, I'm sorry,' he said; Abby shook her head, taking out two plates and starting to dish up the dinner. Her hands started to shake as she turned the light off the cooker and she couldn't hold onto the pans.

'Abby...'

Stephen turned her around and brought her into his arms, placing a hand on the back of her head and bringing it to rest on his chest, using his other hand to rub her back. She tried her hardest to keep it all bottled in, but the hand that was rubbing her back soothingly and the warmth of his body was making it hard; soon she was sobbing into his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist and holding onto him as if he was her lifeline. Stephen tightened his hold on her as her hands grabbed the back of his shirt, he'd never seen her like this and it was killing him that he couldn't do anything to stop the tears from falling; he picked her up bridal style and carried her to the couch where he sat down, brining her into his lap, as her body started to shake from sobbing. After a few minutes her sobbing started to cease and Abby was content to sit there with his scent surrounding her like a cocoon, blocking out the rest of the world.

'I'm sorry,' she said quietly, Stephen shook his head as he ran his fingers through her hair.

'Don't be. You can't be strong all the time, Abby,' he told her, after a few seconds he asked, 'What was he like?'

Abby thought for a moment and then answered, 'He was fair, and a good laugh at times. When the reptile programme had to be slimmed down, and that meant my job had to go, he made sure to find me somewhere else in the zoo. He wasn't like most bosses that just care about how you work, he would ask me about my home life as well, offer to give me lifts if my car was in for MOT or repairs. If he threw a party for the zoo keepers you could bet that it would always be great fun, and he made sure to check up on you if you called in ill... it's going to be so different without him...'

Stephen arms tightened around her and Abby leant into him, 'Thank you.'

Stephen smiled, 'Anytime.'

They stayed as they were for a few minutes and then Abby pulled back.

'I bet dinner's cold now,' she said, rubbing away the makeup that had run down her face, 'And I bet I look a right state.'

'You look beautiful,' Stephen told her, wiping the tear stains from her cheek with the pad of his thumb, 'As usual.'

Abby blushed and stood up, 'I'll go warm up dinner.'

Stephen followed her up from the couch, keeping hold of her hand.

'Abby, do I have a chance?'

Abby turned to face him, 'What do you mean?'

'With you, Abby. Do I have a chance to be with you?'

_A/N: Well here's chapter 3! Please R&R! I know I've been focusing on Stephen and Abby at the moment but there will be a chapter coming up that focuses on Nick wondering what happened to Claudia. Just bear with me, I promise in about 2 chapters time I'll focus solely on Nick. Coming up in the next chapter:_

_Abby answers the question and they deal with the consequences._

_A lot of StephenxAbby fluff_

_Ciao for now,_

_Starsword_


	4. Night Terror

**Chapter 4 ****–**** Night Terrors**

Abby stared at him for a few minutes.

'What?' she asked her voice squeaky. She saw Stephen's crestfallen expression.

'Never mind...' he turned back to the couch. Abby stood in indecision, she needed time to think over what he'd asked, but she knew she didn't have a lot of it. She went back to the kitchen, turning the heat back on to reheat dinner. Did she want to be with Stephen? That answer was obvious: yes she did, she had for months now. The main question that was nagging at her was whether she could be with him. She been burnt in the past, badly, by all of the men she'd had relationships with. She tasted the sauce to see if it was warm enough yet, turning off the heat and taking the pans off of the cooker. How much did she know about him? If Abby was truthful with herself she knew little about him outside what they'd experienced together, and it was this that was making her hold back. Especially after the revelation that he'd had an affair with Helen. Abby groaned as she looked down at the pair of food filled plates.

'Make up your bloody mind, Abby,' she muttered to herself as she picked up the plates.

Dinner was a quiet affair, both were lost in their own thoughts and by the time dinner was over they decided to head straight to bed. Abby collected some things from her room while Stephen was in the bathroom; she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

'You don't deserve him,' she told her reflection, 'Even though you want to be with him more than anything.'

She sighed, Stephen Hart was driving her mad, the fact that she was talking to her own reflection was evidence enough. She walked back down the stairs, looking over at the little Coelurosauravus that was currently being entertained by Stephen, the man dangling a branch with a few leaves on it for the lizard to swat with his feet. He looked up as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

'See you tomorrow, Abby,' he said, smiling slightly before walking past her and up the stairs.

'Night,' she said, watching him go and feeling her heart sinking through the floor beneath her. She sighed and dropped onto the couch after turning out all the lights, pulling the spare duvet over her and facing the back of the couch as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. _Stop crying and just accept the fact that you brought this on yourself, _she scolded herself silently, _you__ didn't want to get hurt and just ended up hurting yourself more in the process._

Abby silently cried herself to sleep, curling up against the back of the sofa and burying her face in the pillow beneath her head.

& & & & & & &

_She looked down at the__ ghostly white face of the man i__n the __hospital__ bed__ in front of her, his injury from the__ Arthropleura bleeding freely. His body__ shaking from convulsions as it tried to fight the poison in his veins. Suddenly the shaking stopped and his body went deadly still. The hospital staff ran around her, trying to resuscitate him, and all the time she could hear the sound of her own sobbing. She called out his name but he didn't answe__r. __Just lying on the bed.__M__otionless, silent.__ She covered her face with her hands and wept._

_When she pulled her hands from her face he was standing in front of her, alive and well. She wanted to run to him, wrap her arms around him and never let go; bury her face in his shoulder and tell him how much he meant to her. She made to take a step forward but a Gorgonopsid entered the clearing from the trees surrounding them, giving out a deafening roar. She opened her mouth to warn him but he turned to face the Gorgonopsid, taking one of the automatic guns and facing it down. She screamed for him to run but he ignored her. The last thing she saw was him being thrown through the air to land with a sickening crunch on the ground near her, his neck at an odd angle and his eyes lifelessly staring at her. She made to run to his body but someone grabbed her around the waist and dragged her away, all the time she was screaming his name, her throat sore from the __overuse__ Then everything went blac__k, the only thing she could sense__ was the roar of the Gorgonopsid._

_He was with her again; alive again. She was still crying__ she started to walk to him, wanting to beg him not to leave her. He was getting ready to get into a boat to find the anomaly at the reservoir. She saw a dark shape moving in the water, moving towards the boat. She called out a warning to everyone in the boat; begging them to get out and get onto land. None of them heard __her;__ it was as if she was a ghost. She could only watch, sobbing and calling out, as the giant marine predator came out of the water to crash into the boat, taking everyone into the water with it. She could only stand and watch helplessly as it swallowed each of them whole._

_When her vision cleared of tears she was standing on a golfing green. He was standing about a hundred metres down the hole, looking away from her. She started to run but her legs didn't want to move fast enough. She looked behind her as she heard the sound of beating wings; the small flying predators were flocking behind her, moving steadily towards him. She screamed for him to hear her, to turn around and head for the trees but he just turned to look at the approaching flying dinosaurs. Her legs stopped moving of their own accord as the dinosaurs over took her and dived onto him. All the time he just stood and stared at her as the dinosaurs methodically tore him to shreds. Her screaming echoed in the darkness that took over once more as she sank to her knees, fresh tears mingling with the old._

_She knew what would happen as her vision came back and she was stood in the observation tunnel again; he had her pressed against the wall as he looked down the corridor at the future predator._

_'Run!' she managed to choke out, her throat sore from all her previous screaming._

_'No,' he replied, 'I won't leave you.'_

_'You need to get out, please, just run,' she begged, knowing the tears were falling without feeling them._

_'I can't let it get you.'_

_'Don't...' a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye and he disappeared from her field of vision.__She turned her head to see him being attacked by the future predator. Their eyes met for a brief second._

_'Abby... run...'_

_'NO!' she screamed, ignoring the creature as it turned to look at her, his blood dripping from its teeth, 'STEPHEN! STEPHEN!'_

'Abby!'

Abby's eyes snapped open and she looked up at Stephen, his blue eyes filled with concern. She could feel her whole body shaking and the tears that were falling down her cheeks.

'Stephen?' her voice cracked her throat was so sore. Had she been screaming in her sleep as well as in her dream? She buried her face in his shoulder, clinging to him with all her strength as sobs shook her body. She felt his arms go around her, holding her close; as her sobs got worse his arms tightened, his one hand rubbing her back, murmuring soothing words into her hair as he rocked her slowly.

Stephen could feel his heart breaking as the normally strong girl sobbed in his arms; he'd been woken by the sound of her screaming for him. He'd run downstairs without a single thought and found her thrashing around on the couch, tears cascading down her face as she dreamt. He'd tried to restrain her but she'd carried on thrashing, screaming in anguish and screaming his name. He'd tried to wake her up and eventually she had, sounding so broken as she'd spoken his name. He felt her shaking start to slow, and her sobs start to fade. Soon she was trembling slightly in his arms as he continued to rock her back and forth, rubbing her back comfortingly. The hands that held onto his shoulders as if she'd be lost if she let go started to relax.

'What happened, Abby?' he asked her, Abby sniffed and looked up at him.

'I couldn't stop it,' she replied, he saw fresh tears welling in her blood shot eyes. He brought her into his lap and leant back into the back of the couch, bringing her down onto his chest as he half sat, half lay back on the sofa, running his fingers comfortingly through her hair.

'What couldn't you stop?' he asked her. He felt Abby's hands on his shoulders tighten their hold.

'You dying,' she replied, 'You kept dying and you couldn't hear me when I tried to warn you.'

Whatever he'd been expecting it wasn't that.

'I was in the hospital after you were bitten by the Arthropleura and they didn't get the anti venom into you in time. You went so still and I called out to you but you didn't answer. Then we were back in the Forest of Dean with the Gorgonopsid. I tried to tell you to run but you tried to kill it and... it threw you into the air and when you landed you broke your neck... I tried to get to you but I was being dragged away. Then you, Cutter and the other divers were getting into the boat to find the anomaly in the reservoir and I saw the dinosaur swimming towards you and tried to warn you, but no one could hear me. I was screaming at all of you and you just ignored me as it broke the boat... it just swallowed all of you and no one noticed... no one tried to help and I couldn't move. Then you were standing in front of me again, we were back at the golfing hotel and the flying predators were flying towards us but you couldn't hear me again and they... they just flew down on you and you just stood and watched them. You didn't try to move and I couldn't do anything to help you...' Abby took a shuddering breath. 'Then we were back in the observation tunnel and- and I told you to run but you refused- you said you wouldn't leave me and no matter what I said you wouldn't move... and then- and then it attacked and you just told me to run... I- I couldn't- I-'

Abby dissolved into more tears, burying her face against his bare chest. Stephen was shocked; he honestly had no idea what to make of what she'd just told him and it took him a few minutes to recover and try to comfort the still crying girl, only pausing a split second to wonder how many more tears she could cry before she simply became too dehydrated to continue.

'It's alright,' he said quietly, still stroking her hair, 'I'm here and I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon.'

After a few minutes Abby pulled back, wiping at the tears with the back of her hand. 'Can you promise me something?'

At that moment Stephen would have promised her the world if it would have made her happy, 'Anything.'

'Don't leave me?'

He smiled at her, 'I'd already promised you that before tonight.'

Abby smiled at him and rested her head on his chest again, 'Stephen?'

'Hmm?'

'You know that question you asked me earlier?'

Stephen felt his heart rise into his throat, 'Yeah?'

She pulled back and looked into his eyes, 'The answer's always been yes.'

Before she could even draw breath Stephen had crushed his mouth against hers, kissing her so passionately that any breath she had left in her lungs was knocked out. His arms crushed her against his body, one hand going up to continue running through her hair as the other starting tracing circles on the bare skin of her waist where the strappy top she was wearing left a gap above her pants. Her trembles of fear turned to shivers of delight as his fingers ghosted over the nerves at the small of her back. Abby's hand went up to tangle itself in his hair, caressing his scalp with her fingertips, the other travelling over his chest, her fingers finding the puckered scar where the Arthropleura bit him. Her lips parted on a gasp as his tongue ran along her bottom lip; the kiss deepening as they explored each other. Questing, tasting, questioning, until they parted, the need to breathe properly becoming too great to ignore. Abby looked into Stephen's eyes before resting her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around him and holding him tightly. She sighed, smiling slightly as his fingers ran through her hair, his other arm wrapped tightly around her waist, holding her against his chest as he ran his fingers over her exposed stomach. Stephen winced as a spark of pain shot through his back from the puncture wound where the tree branch had stabbed him.

'What's wrong?' Abby asked, pulling away to look at him, a worried frown on her face.

'Nothing, just the puncture wound from the tree branch,' he replied; Abby sat up.

'Let me have a look,' she said, Stephen raised an eyebrow and smiled.

'Abby? Going to be a little difficult with you on my lap,' he pointed out; Abby rolled her eyes and stood up, immediately feeling the loss of the warmth of his body. Stephen sighed and sat forward on the edge of the couch so Abby could look at the injury on his back. She pulled the bandaging back and checked the wound; it was bleeding sluggishly and the bandage needed changing.

'Where did you put the dressings the hospital gave you?' she asked him.

'Abby it's fine-'

'Can you see your back now?' she asked, raising an eyebrow. Stephen sighed.

'It's in my bag,' he answered.

'Where is it?'

'Upstairs,' he replied, Abby nodded and walked over to the staircase, quickly running up into the bedroom. She saw his bag leaning against the far wall and went over, having a quick glance through to see if she could see the package.

'It's in the front pocket.'

Abby looked over her shoulder and saw Stephen leaning on the wall a few feet from her.

'What are you doing up here?' she asked him, 'You should be downstairs on the couch, you could make it start bleeding more-'

'Abby, I've got to come back up here to sleep anyway,' he reasoned, 'This way I don't have to come back up after you've replaced the bandage.'

Abby sighed but nodded, pulling out the new dressings and standing up.

'On the bed then,' she said, Stephen raised his eyebrows a small smile forming. Abby blushed and rolled her eyes.

'That didn't come out how it was supposed to,' she said, Stephen laughed and sat on the edge of the bed. Abby climbed onto the bed, kneeling down behind him and pulled the old dressing off completely. She put some antiseptic onto a piece of cotton and dapped at the wound; Stephen's back muscles tensed as the antiseptic stung.

'Sorry,' she murmured, becoming increasingly aware how close they were. She redressed the wound and started to pack away the dressings when she felt Stephen's hand rest on her thigh. She turned to look at him, his gaze catching hers.

'Stephen-'

'Abby stay up here for the rest of the night,' he told her, 'I don't want to have to go downstairs to get you if you have another nightmare. At least with you up here I can get to you quicker.'

'I'm fine,' she said, blushing at her stupidity for letting a dream affect her so much, 'Really.'

'Abby,' his tone left her in no doubt that he wasn't buying it. Abby met his gaze. She desperately wanted him to hold her as she slept, so she knew he was there and they were both safe; but she was scared about letting all her barriers down. Even if it was Stephen. One look in his eyes and she knew her own heart didn't give her a choice in this. She nodded, letting him pull her close as they leant back on the bed, the dressing pack going on the floor and the covers being pulled over them. She rested her head on his chest, hearing the steady beat of her heart and the slow sound of his breathing; strangely she found it started to lull her to sleep.

'Thank you,' she murmured sleepily, snuggling closer to the warmth of his body. Stephen's arms tightened around her, his chin resting on the top of her head.

'I'll be right here,' he told her, pressing a feather light kiss to her hair before he heard her breathing slip into the steady rhythm of sleep. He smiled and pulled her body flush against his side, his one arm wrapped protectively around her waist, the other running comfortingly along her arm.

'I love you,' he whispered, losing his eyes and letting sleep take him.

_A/N: Hi everyone. I'm so sorry I haven't yet thanked everyone who has reviewed! I wrote the first three chapters literally before I posted the story and I didn't have time before I posted them to put any thank you messages on the end so here they are (better late than never I guess):_

_Minchen__: Thank you so much for your reviews! I know what you mean about stories full of SPAG mistakes... it drives me nuts! I usually check through my chapters to make sure they're not full of them. Thank you so much for the reviews!_

_SnowFox3: Thank you for reviewing! I promise I won't burn it... not unless it gets really bad anyway._

_Weezer42:__ Thank you for both of your reviews! I know the __Stabby__ pairing is just meant to be! I really hope they __get together in the next series!_

_Lov3is4lif3: Thank you for reviewing, it's really appreciated!_

_Janzz__: Thanks for telling me about chapter 3! I was opening this chapter to carry on writing after I'd posted chapter 3 and I just clicked on chapter 4 by accident. Thanks for pointing it out!_

_Thank you so much to everyone and please R&R on this chapter! I haven't actually got any more chapters written yet so it might take me a bit longer to put up the next update. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this __fic__ and thanks again to everyone __whose__ reviewed!_

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	5. Where's Claudia Brown?

_A/N: Well I had to go to Nick eventually didn't I? I've got a plan for what happened to Claudia, but for all you Cick fans about there that are waiting for them to get together you'll just have to wait a bit... sorry... Anyway this chapter is (planned to include anyway) Nick wondering what happened to Claudia and trying to get Lester to check through all the people working at the Home Office to make sure she isn't working there; it's also some of Nicks reflections on Helen and Claudia, so there will be hints of NickxHelen (unfortunately... I mean the woman is the biggest bitch on the show, even if she did save Claudia). I'm also hoping to carry on where we left off with Stephen and Abby last chapter, and maybe have Conner make a bit of an appearance. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! Now on with the story..._

**Chapter 5 – Where's Claudia**** Brown**

Nick Cutter sat in his flat, a bottle of scotch on the table in front of him next to a small glass; he refilled the glass and took another sip of the golden liquid. Stephen was out of hospital, so he could now concentrate on the most important question he still needed answering. Where was Claudia Brown? That's why he was sitting here, in his flat, with his scotch; he was trying to work out a way to find out where she was and why she had disappeared from everyone's memories. He had contemplated phoning Lester and asking him to check through all the Home Office employee records and see if there was a Claudia Brown at the Home Office but in a different department; he'd also thought about asking Connor to do a search on her on the internet. He had even wondered if Helen had something to do with Claudia's disappearance; he wouldn't put it past her, not now that he'd finally opened his eyes to her true character.

Looking back now, he realised that his and Helen's relationship had been over long before she'd disappeared; she'd changed from the Helen Ambrose he'd fell in love with and become a manipulative bitch, he just hadn't wanted to see it. He thought back to the time they'd first started dating, after they'd watched that late night showing of the Marx brothers, and wondered if she'd been that cold and manipulative even then. He shook his head, no she hadn't, she'd been fiercely competitive, and it had probably stemmed from that as she'd progressed through her field of study, always wanting to be the best. Every time something happened that she couldn't turn to suit her she took badly, usually with screaming and blaming someone else for the bad things that were happening in her life. Nick sighed, rubbing his temples and placing the glass back on the table. His thoughts turned from his ex-wife to the missing Claudia Brown.

Nick knew he loved her. For the past few months he'd been unsure if he was actually in love with her or if it was just an infatuation, but when she'd kissed him before he went through the anomaly to take back the future predators, and when he'd seen how Helen reacted, he knew he loved her. He loved her because she was so different from Helen; because, in her own way, she cared in a way Helen never could. She was beautiful, funny, caring, faced her fears, and stood by what she thought was right. He had to respect her for that last point; she even stood up to them and Lester when she wanted to do the right thing. Nick was surprised to feel tears starting to gather in his eyes; it had been a long time since Professor Nick Cutter had cried about anything, but right now, alone in his flat, with the woman he loved missing and no one knowing where she was, Nick Cutter felt like crying.

Nick downed another glass of scotch and poured another, the glass was halfway to his lips when he paused, then he placed the glass back on the table and pulled out his mobile. He dialled a number and then waited as the other line started to ring. After a few minutes someone answered.

'Hello?' a bored voice answered, the voice belonged to the one man that Nick Cutter least wanted to ask for help.

'Lester, its Nick Cutter. I need to ask you to do something for me; it could mean understanding how the anomalies are working.'

'Why should I do anything for you, Cutter? You're the one whose supposed to be researching the anomalies, not me,' Lester replied, his voice betraying his annoyance at the other man.

'If you do this for me I might be able to explain why I seem to remember someone you don't,' Nick snapped, 'And I might just be able to understand more about the anomalies and how they work.'

Lester seemed to contemplate this, 'I suppose you want me to see if I can find out who this Claudia Brown is, don't you?'

'Yes, I do. What I need to understand is why I can remember her and none of you can,' Nick explained, feeling like a stuck record. Lester sighed irritably.

'Alright, I'll do it. Don't expect me to find anything though. Goodbye.'

With that Lester put the phone down on Nick Cutter, who was feeling a spark of hope rising in his chest. Feeling slightly better Nick decided he should probably try and get some sleep and then go and see the rest of the team the next day.

& & & & & & &

Connor Temple sat in his mother's living room, typing away on his laptop; his mother was asleep in her bed and he'd decided he'd check up on the internet conspiracy chat rooms to see if the anomaly project was appearing in them. He received a shock when he loaded onto one of the less known websites and found and article, right near the top of postings, that had been posted by someone who seemed to know quite a bit about the project. Or rather about the anomalies; in particular about the dodos and the parasites. Conner felt his stomach sinking as he looked up at the username to see who had posted it. The sick feeling was replaced by anger when he realised he _did_ recognise the name: it was Duncan. Why had it done it? Hadn't he learnt when Tom had died because of the parasites in the dodos that it was dangerous to get people involved in the project? Connor wasn't so naive as to think that they'd be able to keep the project secret for much longer, seeing as they were becoming more and more frequent, and the creatures more and more obvious to the public eye; he was just angry that Duncan was doing this to them. The post seemed to have attracted quite a bit of interest, which made Connor slightly uneasy. He hadn't been in contact much with Duncan since Tom had died, his friend not wanting to speak to Connor as much as before; Connor suspected that Duncan blamed him slightly for their friend's death and it hurt the young student. Though he couldn't blame Duncan for feeling like that, he'd probably feel the same if it was him, he still partly blamed himself for being involved and getting Tom and Duncan involved by being so secretive. But the betrayal Connor felt now made him want to walk up to Duncan's door, pound on it until he opened it, and then smack him around the head until he learned his lesson and left the anomaly project alone. The student sighed, he knew he couldn't really do anything about it until his brother came down to stay with his mother, so that meant all he could do was text Abby to tell her what he'd found and keep an eye on the post and, if it got too popular, start trying to squash the theory.

Connor leant back in his chair and rubbed his tired eyes as he closed down his laptop and took out his mobile to text Abby; he really needed a good sleep. His mother was sicker than he originally thought, and he wanted to stay with her until she was better, but with the anomaly project gaining interest on the conspiracy websites he knew that was going to be highly improbable. Connor walked into his bedroom and put his phone on the bedside table, putting his laptop on the desk and changing into his pyjama's before collapsing onto the bed, hoping that tomorrow would be slightly better than today had been.

_A/N: Sorry it's shorter than normal but it felt like a good place to leave this chapter. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update as well, I wanted to get this chapter right. I'm still not completely happy with it but I thought I'd made you all wait long enough as it is. The next chapter will be more Stabby, because I just love that pairing, plus it means I can get the plot moving along a bit... if I can find where I left the damn thing... I know I put it down somewhere..._

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed: lov3is4lif3, HugMonster, and Minchen. I love you guys! I actually baked you Primeval shaped cookies of characters of your choice! Hope you like them! I almost burned the house down making them... almost... the firemen got here before I managed it and they saved the cookies. And my laptop, which is a good thing seeing as it has my stories on here._

_Thank you to everyone who read as well! Please, please, please review! It makes me happy when I get an email telling me someone's reviewed and get to read the __comments you leave me. If you want to see something in particular happen in this fic please let me know and I'll see if I can fit it in at some point._

_Thank you to again to everyone whose staying with this fic._

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	6. Settling In

**Chapter 6 – ****Settling In**

Stephen woke up slowly, blinking his eyes blearily, and looking down at the warm body curled against his side. Her head had come to rest on his shoulder, his arm snaked around her back to hold her against him, and his hand resting on the bare skin at her waist; her arm was curled around his waist and at some point in the night their legs had gotten tangled together. Their arms, that weren't wrapped around the other's body, had come to rest on the middle of his chest, his hand covering hers and their fingers linked together. Stephen couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he watched Abby continue to sleep; this was a propinquity he'd never felt with anyone before, not with any of his previous girlfriends, and definitely not with Helen. He'd once heard that you could always tell how you felt about someone if you watched them sleeping; never before had he realised how true this was. When he'd watched Helen sleeping all those years ago he'd only felt a slight regret, watching Alison sleep he'd felt the same regret; but watching Abby sleep, curled against his side and trusting him enough to be completely vulnerable around him, he felt only love and the urge to protect her, to hold her against him and never let her out of his sight, to never let anything or anyone hurt her in any way. It scared him slightly, this sudden need he had to protect the woman at his side, the things he felt when he looked at her, it was stronger than anything he'd felt before; anything he'd let himself feel before. He had thought he'd loved Helen, now he realised it had been a stupid student crush that had gotten out of control very quickly; Helen, and the way she'd treated him after that night, had made him want to stay away from proper relationships for as long as possible. All that had changed with the arrival of Abby Maitland into his life. He often wondered why he had never known her to have a boyfriend, even before he met her; she was beautiful and smart and he couldn't understand why no one had tried to be with her. His arm tightened around her, and he started to trace circles across her skin with his finger tips, placing a feather light kiss to her hair. As far as he was concerned, it was better that she wasn't with anyone else at the moment, he was too happy being with her.

Abby felt the last remains of sleep falling from her as she listened to the steady rhythm of his heart, and the deep breaths he took. She felt him start to trace circles on the small of her back and press a kiss to her hair; she snuggled closer to him, a smile creeping to her lips as she sighed happily and opened her eyes. She titled her head to look up at him.

'Has anyone ever told you you're a really comfy pillow?'

Stephen laughed, 'Not that I can remember,' he replied.

'What's the time?' she asked; Stephen looked over her head at the clock.

'Almost half past nine,' he replied; Abby groaned.

'Please tell me it's Saturday,' she begged, Stephen laughed.

'Why?'

'Because if it's Sunday that means I have work tomorrow, and I'm not in the mood to have to get up early tomorrow,' she replied. Stephen chuckled, a sound that reverberated through his chest and gave her a case of the warm fuzzies.

'Shall I get us breakfast?' he asked; Abby shook her head and snuggled closer to him.

'Too comfy, food can wait,' she said, sounding very much like a three year old.

'Come on, lazy,' Stephen said, standing up and scooping her up into his arms. Abby gave a squeak of surprise and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest.

'Stephen, put me down,' she squealed as he laughed, spinning them both around before walking down the stairs, keeping her close to his body as he walked so he wouldn't accidently drop her. Once downstairs he put her down on the sofa, pulled the spare blanket that had been left down there last night around her, and walked into the kitchen. Abby smiled and, after a few minutes, stood up and stretched before making her way into the kitchen; she came up behind Stephen and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek on his back. Stephen chuckled.

'I thought you didn't want to get up.'

'Well I am now; anyway this is a first for me. I never get people making me breakfast,' she replied; Stephen raised his arm and pulled her around to his side, placing a kiss on her forehead.

'I'll make a habit of it then, shall I?' he suggested; Abby laughed, reaching up to kiss him.

'I won't complain if you do,' she replied.

After a few minutes they were sat on the sofa, Stephen's arm around Abby's shoulders, as they ate breakfast, comfortable to be silent in each other's company without feeling awkward. She sighed contentedly as she curled up against his side, breakfast finished and neither of them wanting to move any time soon; she should have known it was too good to last. The phone rang and Abby groaned in frustration.

'Do you think they'll go away if I leave it?' she muttered, burying her face into his shoulder; Stephen laughed.

'I doubt it, anyway it could be important,' he told her; grumbling about people that phoned her whenever she got comfortable, Abby made her way to the phone.

'Abby Maitland,' she said, leaning against the wall, 'Hi Rachel. She's what? I thought she wasn't due for another week... why me?... Jo isn't in?... No I didn't know she was ill... alright I'll be there ASAP... yeah... alright see you in a bit... Bye Rachel.'

Abby hung up the phone and turned to Stephen, 'One of the tigers at the zoo has gone into labour and one of the girls is off sick so they want me to go in and help. Will you be okay?'

'I'll be fine, Abby,' he told her, standing up and running his hands down her arms, 'I'll clear up from breakfast and see if I can get hold of Cutter. See what's happening and what we've got planned to do next.'

Abby nodded, 'I better go and get changed,' she said, sounding as if she'd want nothing more than to curl back up on the sofa.

'Give me a call when you know when you're going to get back,' he told her. She nodded and hurried up the stairs to get ready.

A record five minutes later Abby was downstairs, grabbing her phone and checking the new message as she grabbed her coat. Stephen looked out from the kitchen when he heard her curse.

'What's wrong?' he asked; Abby showed him the message from Connor.

'You'd better get onto Cutter and tell him,' she said, putting her jacket on and picking up her car keys from the work surface. Stephen handed her back the phone and then brought her against him, pressing a tender kiss to her lips; for a few seconds they stood there, locked in an embrace, until Abby finally pulled back.

'Stephen I need to get to the zoo,' she said; he smiled down at her and she pulled him back down for another quick kiss.

'I thought you said you have to go,' he said when they pulled away again.

'I do,' she replied, stepping back and putting her phone in her pocket, 'See you later.'

Stephen smiled to himself and shook his head as the door slid shut behind her and he heard her run down the stairs to the front door.

& & & & & &

A few hours later and Abby was sitting in a room with one of the tiger cubs, double and triple checking that it was breathing normally before she picked it up, cradling it against her chest, and walking out of the room to return it to the cage where it's mother and siblings were. They'd been worried when it had been born because it didn't respond as quickly as the others had and the mother had seemed to be constantly trying to revive it; while someone had distracted the tigress Abby had quickly scooped up the tiny cub and taken it out of the pen so the head vet could check it over and make sure it was healthy enough to be returned to its mother. After an hour it had been given the all clear and now Abby was left to return it to the tigress.

'How is the little one?' Rachel asked her as Abby came up to her. Rachel was one of Abby's good friends at the zoo as she'd joined a month after Abby had; she had long black hair and brown eyes that were almost constantly smiling. The other keepers often commented that when the two of them were in the same room it was almost impossible not to smile the happy energy they gave off was so contagious.

'She's fine now,' Abby replied, handing the baby to one of the other keepers who would return her to the tiger. 'How's Lily doing?'

'Fine, she's a natural mother; never seen many first time mothers adapt so quickly before,' she commented. Abby smiled.

'Do we know the sexes of the other two yet?' she asked.

'There's the girl you just brought back and two boys,' Rachel replied, 'We agreed you should name one of them seeing as you weren't even supposed to be in today. I'm naming one, and Phil's naming the last one.'

Phil was the keeper in charge of the tigers at the zoo and always named one of the new cubs, the other keepers that helped were given a chance to name the others.

'I'm naming one?' Abby asked, the only animals she'd named before had been her own ones, and that was only if they didn't have a name to begin with.

'Yep,' Rachel replied, 'We've got two weeks to name them. Phil's already got some names picked out.'

'I swear that guy has a list of names in his locker for when one of the tigers gives birth.'

The two girls laughed as they made their way out of the building, passing the new mother as they went. Abby looked into the cage and saw Lily pick up her daughter and place her with her brothers; she smiled at the young tigress and then followed Rachel outside. Since she was here she might as well get a bit more work done.

& & & & & &

A few hours later saw Abby sitting in Brad and Angelina's cage again, looking between the two of them; she chuckled to herself as she let her mind take her back to the time Tim had come to tell her the program was being slimmed down; that meeting had eventually led her to the team and Stephen.

'Come on guys,' she muttered to the lizards as she climbed out of the pen, she turned and stood in front of the glass, looking in at the pair, 'Trust me you don't want to wait forever. Really bad idea; take it from me and I know it from personal experience.'

She chuckled quietly to herself as the lizards looked at each other, seeming as if they'd understood what she'd said.

'Daft lizards,' she muttered to herself, she heard someone enter the building and looked around to see who it was. She frowned when she couldn't see anyone there; a shiver ran up her spine that only comes when you know you're being watched and she turned back to look once more at the lizards.

'Maybe I'm just going crazy,' she muttered to them, placing one hand against the glass for a few seconds before turning around again to leave. As she started to walk out someone grabbed her arm and spun her back around; she raised her free hand automatically to defend herself when it was caught as she was pulled up against a hard body. A very familiar hard body.

'You know some people would call you a stalker,' she commented, 'Normal people don't creep up on each other.'

Stephen laughed as he trailed his hand from where he'd caught her hand down to her rest on her hips.

'I like to think I'm protective,' he replied; Abby snorted.

'What are you doing here anyway?' she asked, 'You're supposed to be at home recovering. You've only been out of hospital-'

Stephen cut her off by pressing his lips to hers, placing a hand on the back of her head and gently running his fingers through her hair. She gently slapped his shoulder before she relaxed and started to return the kiss, running her hand from his shoulder down his torso before slipping her fingers through one of the belt loops on his jeans and pulling his closer. Stephen smiled against her lips before running his tongue over her bottom lip; her lips parted on a small groan as his hand ghosted up her back under her shirt, making shivers run up and down her spine. Abby felt him pull away slowly and looked up at him.

'Cutter dropped me off,' he told her, 'I thought I'd come and surprise you.'

Abby laughed, 'By being the world's biggest stalker?'

'Come on you, let's get back to your flat,' he said, putting his arm across her shoulders and steering her out of the lizard's enclosure. Abby rolled her eyes.

'We're stopping off at your flat first,' she reminded him, 'We need to get some of your stuff if you're staying at mine for a while.'

& & & & & &

A few hours later Abby and Stephen stumbled through the door to her flat, trying to catch their breath as they laughed, both of them carrying a bag each full of Stephen's things that he would need for the next week or so. Abby pulled the sliding door shut as Stephen dumped the bags at the bottom of the stairs; she turned to look back at him, still smiling, and saw him watching her with an odd expression on his face. She put her hands on her hips and pointed to a chair.

'Sit down, I need to change that dressing on your back,' she told him; he grinned sheepishly at her as she ran up the stairs. Only a few minutes later she was back downstairs and stood behind him, removing the old dressing; he winced slightly as she dabbed it with the antiseptic pad.

'It's healing well,' she told him, redressing it, 'It should be healed up soon.'

'That's good,' he commented absently; she went round to face him once she'd finished with the dressing and knelt in front of him, placing her hands on his knees.

'Are you okay?' she asked him; he smiled at her concerned expression.

'I was just thinking,' he replied; Abby tilted her head to one side.

'What about?' she asked him.

'You,' he replied, placing a finger under her chin, 'Wondering how someone so beautiful can be living on her own with reptiles for so long.'

Abby bit her lip and looked away from him, 'Maybe I just preferred animal company to human.'

Stephen frowned as she stood up and went to Rex's cage, pulling open the lid and absently running the material between her fingers. Stephen stood up and stood a step or two behind her, giving her her space.

'What happened, Abby?' he asked her. Abby stood motionless, even stopped running the material through her fingers; he could see her tense up and wondered if he'd overstepped the mark. The two steps between them seemed miles now and he wanted to close the gap and take her into his arms. Instead Stephen took one step closer to her and placed one hand on her shoulder, letting her know he was there with her. Abby looked up out of the window and, taking a deep breath, opened her mouth.

_A/N: I'm __sooo__ sorry it's taken so long for me to update but I wanted to get my __fic__ 'Bye Bye Beautiful' finished. Look out for a one shot sequel that might be appearing at some point, a few people seemed to like the idea of a peek into the future so I'm going to try and write it._

_Thank you to everyone who __have__ been really patient with me. I know I'm not the best of updaters, I keep losing my plots for a few weeks and then I find them again. I have an idea of where this is going though so don't worry I should have a fairly good updating time._

_Thank you to all my readers and thank you to all my reviewers as well! Thank you so much for reviewing it makes me feel really happy when I'm having a crap day at school and I can go onto my emails and read what people are saying about this __fic__. Thank you!_

_I've got the next chapter planned out, or at least I know what's happening. Here's the plan for everyone __whose__ interested:_

_-Abby tells Stephen why she was living alone for a while before she met the team._

_-Nick learns what happened to Claudia Brown_

_-Connor plans to come back early from his mother's to confront Duncan about the internet post_

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	7. Blast From The Past

**Chapter 7 – ****Blast ****From**** The Past**

Abby wondered where she was going to start or how she was going to get out of this situation when the phone started ringing.

'I should get that,' she said, darting past Stephen to answer the phone.

'Abby Maitland... Hi Professor... what? Another one?... Do you want me to drive- oh okay. See you in a bit then.'

Abby hung up and turned to Stephen, 'We've got another anomaly. Apparently it's in an office block and the special forces are already on their way there. Cutter said he'd pick us up on the way.'

Stephen nodded, 'How long is he going to be?'

'About ten minutes,' Abby replied, she put her hands on her hips, 'No heroics from you, you're still recovering from the last time we faced an anomaly.'

Stephen put his hands in the air, 'Alright, I'll behave.'

Abby snorted, a smile playing on her face, 'I find that hard to believe.'

Stephen looked wounded as Abby laughed and pressed a quick kiss to his lips before going upstairs to get changed. Stephen watched her go, knowing that the question he'd asked her earlier was now being ignored with the distraction provided by Nick Cutter. He sighed, wondering if she'd ever let her walls down enough to tell him what had happened to her before.

* * *

Abby jumped out of the SUV and fell into step behind Stephen.

'Do we know what's come through?' she asked, looking up at the office block above them; Stephen shrugged.

'Your guess is as good as ours,' he replied, his hand reaching out to link his fingers with hers. She smiled up at him.

'I'm just hoping there's no bugs.'

Stephen laughed and looped his arm around her waist as Nick stopped and they faced one of the special forces men walked up to them.

'Professor Nick Cutter? I'm Captain Harvey, I'll be taking over from Captain Ryan,' he said, holding out his hand for Nick to shake; Nick took it and nodded.

'This is Stephen Hart and Abby Maitland,' Nick said; Harvey greeted the two of them, his eyes lingering longer on Abby did not go unnoticed by Stephen who tightened his arm around her waist.

'What's the situation?'Nick asked. Captain Harvey turned back to him.

'We've evacuated the building and kept the employees nearby and the press away,' Harvey replied, 'We were instructed to wait for your arrival before entering the building.'

Nick nodded, 'Any idea what creature we're dealing with?'

'From eyewitness reports it sounds like some type of predator. A group of them,' Harvey replied.

'It can't be anything too large otherwise it couldn't move around inside,' Abby pointed out.

'The Gorgonopsid managed to negotiate a school,' Stephen countered.

'But a group of Gorgonopsid? I thought they lived alone.'

'They did,' Nick replied, 'I think it's more than likely some kind of raptor.'

One of the SAS men brought over three sets of the gear they'd worn when they'd gone into the Underground; Abby felt Stephen tense up slightly next to her and she tightened her arm around his waist slightly, she felt him relax slightly and leant into his side.

'Let's get kitted and then we'll take a look inside,' Nick said to the other two.

About ten minutes later the three of them were stood by the main van setting up their ear pieces and Nick was talking with one of the SAS men; he was making sure he would be able to convey to the what the suspected creatures were so they could work out how to control them enough to send them back. Connor had copied most of his dino database and given it to the Home Office so they could access it at any anomaly site if, for some reason, he didn't have his laptop or he wasn't there. He hadn't been able to copy every single bit of it though and so there would be some gaps.

'Abby Maitland?'

Abby turned to find the source of the voice and found a face she vaguely recognised.

'You don't remember me do you?' the man asked. Abby shook her head.

'I recognise you, but I can't remember your name. Sorry,' she replied, sending him an apologetic smile.

'Abby!'

'Five minutes, Cutter!' she replied; Nick nodded and turned back to his conversation with the SAS man. Abby turned back to the man; he had a smile on his face that was making her slightly uncomfortable.

'What about m best mate? Tom Wood?'

Abby froze, the smile falling from her face as realisation hit hard, 'John Baker.'

Her ex-fiancée's friend just smiled and nodded.

'He's doing great by the way, should be out of prison next month,' John told her, 'Do you miss him? He misses you a lot. He can't wait to see you when he gets out.'

'If he comes anywhere near me I'll tell the police and he'll go straight back to prison!' Abby snapped, hoping the fear she felt didn't show in her voice.

'Abby?'

She jumped and spun around to come face to face with Stephen. He frowned, taking in her fearful stance and wide eyes; he looked over her shoulder at John.

'You okay?' he asked; Abby felt a sense of déjà vu as the expression on his face reminded her of the sea lion tunnel.

'I'm fine. Just catching up with an old friend,' she replied, casting a look back at John, 'It was nice seeing you again.'

'We'll both be seeing you soon, Abby,' John said, the confirmation of who 'both' of them were making shivers run up her spine. Stephen must have sensed something was wrong because he loosely wrapped an arm around her waist, letting his hand rest lightly on her hip.

'We better get over to Cutter, he wants to go in now,' he told her, not missing the slight narrowing of John's eyes and the intense glare he fixed on Abby. She nodded and let Stephen lead her back to the team and away from a past she wanted to leave behind for good.

* * *

'We'll do a sweep from the basement to the top floor and keep our eyes open for any creatures or the anomaly,' Nick said; Stephen rolled his eyes.

'I thought we were looking out for the meeting rooms,' he commented, grinning as Nick rolled his eyes at him. The three members of the team quickly and quietly pushed open the door and entered the building, a team of the SAS behind them. The group started to move forward when Stephen stopped suddenly, holding up his hand to stop the others.

'Shh... listen,' he pressed a finger to his lips and everyone froze, listening intently. Then Stephen heard it again; a quiet clicking.

'They're close,' Abby whispered, 'Do you think they know we're here?'

'I think they might be stalking us already,' Stephen replied; the rest of the group shot him an uneasy glance.

'What do we do?' one of the men asked.

'We move forward,' Harvey replied.

'We stay _still_ and wait until we know where there are,' Stephen countered, 'Otherwise they could pick us off one by one.'

'Raptors were highly adapted ambush predators that worked in groups to separate their singled out prey from its group. If we are facing raptors we need to stay together,' Nick continued. Harvey shot them both a slight glare for making him look a fool in front of his new men but kept his mouth shut. The group remained still and silent, casting glances around the foyer for any sign of the predators.

'Over there,' Abby pointed to a corridor to the left where she'd seen a shadow pass across the wall. The guns all swung around to focus on the one corridor. That was the mistake the special forces made.

'To the right!'

Stephen spun around just in time to pull Abby back as the raptor leapt at them; luckily it landed on the floor and skidded into the opposite corridor.

'Fire at will!' Harvey commanded.

'No! We should only kill these creatures unless we have no other choice!' Nick yelled.

'Nick we have no other choice! It's them or us!' Stephen told him, steadying Abby as they walked towards the Professor. The special forces were shooting at shadows now as the raptors seemed to have disappeared back into the building.

'Hold your fire!' Harvey called, after a few seconds silence reigned again. 'We need to find this anomaly and get these creatures back in before I lose any of my men, Professor. I'd like to know how you are planning on doing this so I know where me and my men stand.'

Nick paused for a moment, 'We need to find where the anomaly is in the building, then we can focus on getting the creatures back into it; baiting them if we have to.'

'Baiting with what?' Harvey asked.

'I don't know yet,' Nick replied, 'Our main concern is to find the anomaly.'

'We can split into two groups, my men will split in half and go with you. We have our communication lines set up,' Harvey said, 'We find the anomaly we tell the other group where it is and then meet there.'

Nick held Harvey's gaze for a few seconds before nodding, 'Alright, let's do it.'

Twenty minutes later and they were still looking; Abby had gone with Harvey and a group of his men, something Stephen hadn't been too happy about but he'd kept his mouth shut and let it slide.

'What are we going to do when we find this thing?' Harvey asked as his men checked around a corner and then waved them on for all clear.

'I'm not sure,' Abby replied, her mind wasn't really on the task at hand. She snapped to attention when her ear piece crackled to life.

'We've found it,' Nick's voice came through, 'It's on the fourth floor in a central meeting room, get up here as quickly as you can and we'll work out how to get the predators back through.'

'Alright men! We're moving up to the fourth floor, let's go!' Harvey called out.

'Sir!'

Abby spun around and ducked just in time to stop from being mauled by a raptor; as it landed it slipped on the shiny floor, skidding for a few seconds before finally stopping. She put her hand on her arm as she felt something sticky start to trickle down it, glancing down she realised the raptor's claw had caught her as she'd put her arm up to protect her head.

'We need to get you out of here, you're hurt,' Harvey said, helping her to her feet as the men started to fire bullets at the dinosaur; Abby felt a shiver run through her spine as it fixed a predatory eye on her before sliding down a side corridor; it could still smell her blood. Blood...

'I've got an idea,' she said to Harvey, 'Give me a gun.'

Harvey looked at her as if she'd gone mad, 'What?'

'Get you and your men up to the anomaly so you can give me directions to it once I get onto the fourth floor. Give me a gun and go!' Abby said, a spark of determination in her eyes; where this daring stupidity had come from she didn't know but she did know that she had a plan to get the raptors back up to the anomaly.

'I won't leave you alone, I'll come with you and instruct my men-'

'Your men need you to command them; if you're that determined I'll let one of them come with me but the rest of you are getting up to the anomaly.'

Harvey looked at the determined spark in her eyes and sighed, 'Alright. Jones you accompany Miss Maitland, the rest of you follow me we're going up to the anomaly.'

He turned to Abby, handing her a hand gun, 'Good luck.'

She waited for the men to turn the corner before turning back to Jones, 'If you want to go I don't mind; I know this is a stupid idea that'll probably get us killed but it's the only plan we've got at the moment.'

'I'll follow my orders, Miss,' he told her; Abby smiled at him.

'Thank you.'

& & & & & & &

'Where's Abby?' Stephen asked when Harvey and the rest of his men arrived at the anomaly site.

'She gave us instructions to come up here and wait for her; I sent one of my men with her.'

'You left her _alone_?' Stephen demanded; Nick came up next to Stephen.

'Where is she?' he asked.

'We parted on the ground floor. We'd scouted the basement and lower ground floor with no sign of the predators,' Harvey reported. Stephen reached up to his ear piece and pressed the call button.

'Abby? Abby where are you? Abby come in. Abby!'

He growled in frustration as all he got was static, 'Where is she?'

'Alright, Stephen you need to calm down. You're not going to be any help to her like this,' Nick said, 'Then we need to see if we can get hold of... who did you send with her?'

'Jones,' Harvey replied.

'Right we need to see if we can get hold of Jones. Then we can send a group out to collect them,' he turned back to the Captain, 'Why on earth did you let her go out with only one man with her?'

'I know when I'm beaten in an argument with a woman,' Harvey replied, 'I knew she wouldn't give in so I made a compromise. Jones is one of my best men, he'll keep her safe.'

It had been five minutes since Abby and Jones had left Harvey and the rest of the men to get to the anomaly site and she'd just heard Stephen calling her on the ear piece; ignoring him she carried on walking along the ground floor, every so often leaving a few drops of blood on the ground for the raptors to follow. She hoped the floor would be slippery enough to them so that, if they were being chased, they'd at least be able to out-manoeuvre the predators. They reached the stair well and Abby started to climb the stairs, Jones placed an arm in front of her and walked in front.

'I'll check the coast's clear, miss,' he told her, he paused at the top, Abby continuously looking behind her to make sure they weren't being followed.

'Alright, all clear at the moment,' he told her, 'If you don't mind me asking, miss, what are you doing? You'll be leading the raptors right to the group.'

'And to the anomaly,' Abby told him, 'I know it's a crazy idea but it'll give us a head start at least.'

'_Jones?__If you are there Jones report position.'_

'We're at the stairwell on the first floor, sir,' Jones replied, Abby heard a soft clicking noise and looked down the corridors, but there was no sign of the raptors.

'_You are to return to the anomaly site immediately, is that clear? Any plan Miss Maitland has is to be abandoned.'_

'Yes sir-'

'Look out!' Abby shoved Jones to the side as a raptor leapt from the floor above them, skidded on the slippery surface a little and then straightened.

'Raptor on first floor!' Jones yelled into his ear piece, aiming his gun at the dinosaur that turned it's yellow eyes in direction of the smell of blood. Abby started to back up along the corridor, her back coming into contact with a stationary trolley. Jones fired a bullet but it hit the predator on the leg, it turned to gaze at the man and Abby frantically tried to find her gun; two more shots and the raptor collapsed to the floor.

'Is it dead?' Abby asked after a few seconds.

'I don't want to stick around to find out,' Jones replied, coming up to her and taking her hand, 'Come on, miss, I'm following orders.'

'You are, but I'm not,' Abby said, wrenching her arm from his grip, 'Just give me a little time at each floor and I'll be finished. All I'm doing is laying a trail for them to follow.'

Jones' attention had been lost when he noticed something over her shoulder, and Abby could sense it.

'Run,' he said, such a simple command but one she obeyed; darting past him to run back towards the stairs, only checking over her shoulder to make sure he was following. She took the steps two at a time and then spun around to race up the next flight. She skidded to a halt with only one flight to go to the fourth floor. There were two raptors behind them, trying to negotiate the stairs quickly, and one more in front, blocking the stairs to the fourth floor. Abby took out her hand gun and, hoping she wouldn't have to use it because she wasn't too sure of her aim, started to back up the corridor, glancing back every few steps to make sure the way was still clear. Jones was right beside her.

'What you propose we do now?' he asked her.

'Surely there's more than one set of stairs?' she asked.

'Find the other set?'

'Sounds good.'

They took off running, Jones only pausing to knock the water dispenser from its holder, spreading water over the floor like a flood.

'Hopefully that'll slow them down,' he commented, sprinting a little faster to keep up with her, 'Where is the other staircase?'

'No idea,' Abby replied, 'I've never been in here before. Are they still close behind?'

Jones shot a look over his shoulder, 'I can't see them,' he said as he turned back to face her; he turned back again and his eyes widened as the raptors skidded and crashed into the wall before setting off after them again.

'They're still there,' he said, he placed a hand to his ear piece, 'Captain Harvey we need a way up to the fourth floor other than the central staircase.'

The earpiece crackled for a few seconds.

'_There's the fire exit staircase at the back of the building,' Stephen replied, 'Head to the very back it's on the left. Follow the green fire exit signs. Is Abby with you?_'

'I'm here,' Abby replied, casting a look behind her and willing her legs to run a bit faster, 'We'll need directions to the anomaly site once we get onto the fourth floor.'

'_What the hell do you think you're doing?_' Stephen demanded; Abby groaned.

'Stephen this is the wrong time to discuss this right now,' she felt her hopes rise as she noticed a green sign pointing to a sign at the end of the corridor. 'There it is!'

She crashed into the door, pushing the handle and holding it open for Jones before slamming it shut and trying to find a way to bolt it; Jones braced it next to her.

'There's no way to lock it,' Jones told her; Abby looked at him and then up at the stairs.

'Wait for me to tell you when to open it and then hide behind the door, hopefully the smell of the blood will draw them to me. I'll open the door and get them to the anomaly site.'

Jones looked like he was going to argue but Abby took off up the stairs.

'Stephen, how do I get to the anomaly site from the fire exit?'

'_Abby what are you planning to do?'_ Stephen asked.

'Stephen! I need directions now!' she said.

'_Straight along the corridor and then turn left, there's a door open on the right. The anomaly's in there.'_

'Make sure you're out the way of the door when I come through,' she said; pulling open the door to the fourth floor.

'_Abby be careful-'_

'Open it!' she called down to Jones. She heard the door open and the raptors came through, pausing on the landing below; sensing the danger to Jones and of losing the raptors Abby gave three sharp whistles, capturing the attention of the predators. She waited a split second for them to start heading up the stairs before turning and running through the door and along the corridor.

'Which left?!?' she asked.

'_The last one,'_ Nick replied.

Abby skidded around the corner at the end of the corridor and spun her head, trying to see the door to the anomaly site. She grabbed hold of the door frame and flew into the room; she felt someone grab her around the waist and pull her to the side before she crashed straight through the anomaly. The three raptors had only been a few steps behind her and crashed through the anomaly; it continued to glow brightly for a few seconds before snapping shut. There was a split second when it seemed everyone took a deep breath, and then everyone relaxed. Abby was spun around by the arms that were holding her and found herself looking into a pair of intense blue eyes.

'What possessed you to do something so _stupid_?' Stephen demanded, looking her up and down to find any wounds. Bringing her injured arm up to check over it. Abby pulled her arm away from his grip and took a step back.

'It worked didn't it? I only got a scratch on my arm from it and the anomaly's closed and all the raptors are through except for the one that was killed.'

'One's dead?' Nick asked, coming up to them.

'We had no choice,' she replied, 'It's down on the first floor.'

'No it isn't,' Harvey replied, gun pointed at the doorway where the raptor that Jones had shot on the first floor limped into the room; hissing at the collected humans. Abby felt the gun Harvey had given her slip from her jeans; two gunshots were fired next to her head as the raptor leapt in her direction, crashing to the floor beside her as Stephen pulled her back against his side out of harm's way.

'Let's wrap up here and get home,' Nick said after a few seconds silence.

_A/N: Heya, I'm sorry for the long gap but I've had exams to revise for. I'm actually stuck at home ill at the moment so I should hopefully be able to get the next chapter finished, if not partly written. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and thank you __to _ dino_ who pointed out that I made a mistake as regards the Gorgonopsid, apparently it's a mammal-like predator not a dinosaur. Sorry if I keep making stupid mistakes like that but I'm not a palaeontologist and was just going by what the characters had called it in the show._

_And speaking of the show, IT'S BACK ON TOMORROW PEOPLE!!! I can't wait! Is anyone else worried there may be a lack of the __Stabby__ pairing or is it just me?_

_Thank you my reviewers: lov3is4lif3: The tiger cub's name will take a while to come as it's revealed in the chapter where Abby and the other zoo keepers meet their new boss. Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy the next chapter. Abby and Stephen are scheduled to have a little heart to heart. _

_ weezer42: Thanks for the review and well done on your __fic__I'm loving__ it! Trying to keep up with the updates! Hope you like the next chapter as well! Thanks for the review._

_ Dino: Thanks for pointing out my mistake; I'm not really that good with __prehistoric creatures. Maybe I should stick with future ones! __Lol__ If I make any more mistakes like that please tell me again!_

_claire18974__: Thanks for the review, especially since English isn't your first language! I can't believe you'd even take the time to read it! Thank you!_

_Please R&R this chapter. I was going to add in another scene and then I realised just how long the chapter was! I've actually got the rest of this __fic__ all planned out so hopefully updates won't be as long as if I didn't; usually I have a vague idea and then let the story take __it's__ course._

_Don't forget to watch the first episode of series 2 tomorrow people! It's going to be good!_

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	8. There For You

**Chapter 8 – There ****For**** You**

Stephen waved goodbye to Nick as he drove off down the street; he then turned and followed Abby up the stairs to her flat. He pulled the door shut and leant against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Abby move around the flat, checking on Rex first and letting the dinosaur out and then moving around her other creatures. She'd been tense and withdrawn since she'd spoken to that man earlier before they went into the office block; he saw her wince as she stretched her arm too far and irritated her injury. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, turning her around to look at him.

'Let me see,' he said, bringing her arm up and pushing the sleeve of her jumper up. He was surprised when Abby pulled her arm away sharply and took a few steps back.

'I'm fine,' she snapped; Stephen watched as she quickly built a wall up around her and wondered what had happened to make her so withdrawn all of a sudden.

'Abby what's wrong?' he asked her as she walked away from him and put a snake's cage between them.

'Nothing,' she replied, not looking up at him but down at the snake she was feeding. Stephen sighed, wondering how to bridge this gap between them; he watched her feed the rest of her reptiles, uneasiness growing inside him as each minute passed.

'Abby, talk to me!' he pleaded as she headed for the stairs. She paused a few steps up and turned to face him.

'What about?' she asked. Stephen sighed in frustration and walked closer to her, noticing her tense up slightly.

'You know what about, Abby,' he told her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

'What if I don't want to talk about it? What if I just want to forget about it?' she snapped, walking another two steps up, just out of his reach.

'How can you forget about it if you just let it sit in the back of your mind? Trust me Abby, keeping it bottled up doesn't help,' he told her, wondering if she'd let him help her.

'You mean just like you did with Helen?' she snapped; as soon as it had left her mouth Abby wanted to take the words back. She saw the pain fly across Stephen's face to be replaced by an expressionless mask that she'd never seen on his face before; she wished she hadn't been the one to put it there. His eyes went suddenly cold and Abby felt fear like she hadn't felt for over a year sweep over her as he walked up the few steps that separated them; he placed a hand either side of her head and looked into her eyes.

'You have no idea about any of that; what I went through with not telling Nick what happened, and what happened before that,' he told her, Abby tried to back away but the wall had her trapped between it and Stephen. Suddenly she felt old fear and desperation grasp her and she pushed Stephen away from her and tried to get up the stairs but she slipped, putting her hands out to break her fall as she felt tears start to come to her eyes.

'Abby!'

She turned around and propped herself up on her elbows, trying to get to her feet and get up the stairs at the same time. She felt Stephen take hold of her arms and tried to push him off.

'Abby, look at me!'

She stopped struggling and did as he asked, looking at him with wide eyes; she could feel herself trembling slightly.

'Let go,' she said, voice cracking slightly.

'Abby-'

'Stephen, let go!' she looked at him for a few seconds, 'Please.'

It was the vulnerable tone in her voice and the fear in her eyes that made him let go of her arms and sit back on the stairs, he heard Abby do the same a few steps above him; he turned to look at her. She was hunched up against the wall, her knees brought up to her chest; her whole body was turned towards the wall and he couldn't understand what he'd done to make her like this.

'Abby-'

'I'm sorry... I didn't think I just... I didn't want to... I'm sorry...' she said, not turning away from the wall.

'Me too,' he said, silence stretched out for what felt like an eternity, 'Do want a drink?'

It was more to break the silence and give him something to do; he got up and started to walk back down the stairs.

'I was engaged once,' she said quietly; Stephen froze and turned to face her again, 'About a year and a half before I met you. It... it didn't end well...'

Stephen went to sit on the step next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder; he didn't want to force her into contact if she didn't want to, considering how she'd been only a few moments ago he doubted she wanted full contact, but he made sure she knew he was there. Abby turned away from the wall to look at him and he saw tears falling down her cheeks; it took all his self restraint not to pull her into his arms.

'The man I was talking to earlier, before we went into the office block... that was... that was my ex-fiancée's best friend... he told me Tom was coming out of prison next month and... it scared me... Stephen he-'

'Shh,' unable to resist any longer Stephen pulled her into his arms, cradling her head against his chest. What had happened to her to make this usually strong, bright woman into a vulnerable, fearful girl? He picked her up and carried her down onto the sofa and then sat with her in his lap, wondering how he could take away all the pain.

'You know I'm here to listen if you want me to,' he told her after a few moments, he felt her nod against his chest.

'But only when you want to. I won't try to force you into telling me anything again, Abby.'

'Thank you,' she whispered, burying her face into the crook of his neck. After a few moments of silence she spoke again.

'You want to know why I chose to live with animals instead of looking for another person to share my life with? It was because the animals were the only ones who wouldn't let me down,' she told him, 'They can't hurt you the way people can.'

She sat up and turned, sliding off his lap to sit on the sofa and stare at a patch of the wooden floor.

'I met my first proper boyfriend in sixth form,' she said, 'We went out for almost two years, and then I found out he'd been sleeping with my best friend behind my back for four months. I had a boyfriend in university but we broke up just before I left to work at the zoo, one of my relationships that actually ended on a good note,' she smiled sourly, 'I'd been working at the zoo for about six months by the time I met Michael, he'd come with a school visit and we'd got talking. We were together for about a year and then I... I found out he was engaged to someone else. The business trips up to Scotland had been to see his future wife, telling her he was on business trips when he was down with me. It was a year later I met Tom and a year after that we got engaged...'

Abby trailed off and Stephen placed a hand on her shoulder, she moved back to lean against him but she still stared at a patch of the floor.

'What-'

'We were a month into our engagement when he started to get... physical... At first it was just the odd punch or slap, something he quickly covered by saying it was an accident. Hugging me, kissing me, promising he wouldn't do it again. It slowly started to get worse, especially if he got drunk. Then... something happened and he lashed out... really lashed out. I was around his flat and he hit me... beat me... ' Stephen tightened his hold on her subconsciously, his mind was still trying to catch up with what she was telling him, 'I don't know how long it went on for but eventually he left to go see some friends... I don't know how long I lay on the floor, wondering when he was going to get back, how long he'd been gone. Eventually I managed to crawl to the door and into the hallway. I went to the flat across from him and knocked on the door. I don't remember much except a woman opening the door and calling for someone to call an ambulance. He's been in prison ever since and I moved in here when Jo moved out to America. She was the one who'd opened the door. She had been visiting her sister and she came and checked on me when I was in the hospital; she's letting me house sit for her whilst she's out in America sorting out things... she said it gave me a chance to start over, because Tom or any of his mates wouldn't know where I lived.'

Stephen had pulled her closer to him and was running his thumb up and down her uninjured arm; he felt the tell tale bump of a scar and looked down at her arm. Abby followed his line of sight.

'I was lucky to get away with just that one scar,' she commented dryly. After a few seconds she looked up at Stephen, apprehensive about what his reaction would be, and shivered when she saw the anger in his eyes. He wasn't angry at her was he? She watched as he visibly tried to keep his emotions in check.

'I'm sorry...' she mumbled; Stephen looked at her in surprise.

'What for?' he asked her, 'You've got nothing to be sorry about. Abby, it's a miracle you can be so bubbly and happy all the time when you've been through all this. It's a miracle you can trust men at all...' he paused for a few seconds, looking back down at the scar along her right forearm and rubbing it with his thumb. 'I can't promise that I won't hurt you, Abby, I know I'll probably say things at times to make you hate me, but I _can_ promise you to never hurt you like that; and I swear I'll kill anyone who tries.'

Abby looked up into his eyes and she knew he meant every word. She placed a hand on the side of his face and smiled weakly up at him.

'Thank you,' she said, letting her hand trail down to rest on his chest, 'I'm sorry I said what I did... I just... it came out before I could think...'

'It's fine,' he said, continuing to run his thumb over the thin scar on her arm. She rested her head on his chest, beside where her hand was resting.

'No it's not,' she said, 'It hurt you, I know it did, Stephen. You were right I didn't know anything about it and I shouldn't have brought it up.'

After a few moments of silence Abby took a breath and, finding her courage, asked, 'What happened? When you...'

'When I had the affair with Helen you mean?' he asked; Abby nodded, wondering if she'd crossed the line when the silence stretched out.

'I'd been going to see her after all the lectures had finished for the day for about two months, just to chat about what we were covering and some theories that were cropping up. I was getting extra help with my course. I'd been going out with a girl, Sophie, for... well since we both started at University, and then... she'd played me. She'd been going out when I'd been talking with Helen and sleeping with other guys. She played me for a fool, and the worst bit was I still thought I loved her after everything she'd done...'

Abby moved her arm down to circle his waist, holding him as he spent a few moments collecting his thoughts.

'It was a week into our argument... Sophie and I had been at each other's throats about it and it didn't seem to be anywhere near ending when Helen came to my room. She was crying and asked if she could speak to me. She seemed... a lot older than she had earlier and she started telling me about how Nick was mistreating her more than ever and how they'd just had a big fight. I listened to her and... I _believed her_, it was only when I met Nick after she'd disappeared that I realised how wrong she'd been about him...'

_(Flashback)_

_Stephen looked across the room as Helen continued crying silently. He just didn't know what to say to her; it wasn't like he was the best person at relationships... look what had happened with Sophie. Helen laughed slightly and looked at him, wiping her eyes with her hands._

_'Look at me,' she said, '__Crying__ my eyes out and talking about my troubles when you've got far worse troubles than me.'_

_Stephen shook his head, 'It's nothing.'_

_Helen gave him a disbelieving look and reached out to turn off the main light switch, leaving the only light coming from the table light he used when he was doing his work. She stood up and walked over to where he sat on the bed; Stephen frowned in confusion._

_'You're sweet, Stephen,' she told him, bending down, 'It's a pity there's not more men like you in this world.'_

_Before he could say anything Helen had covered his lips with hers; he was so surprised he forgot to try and stop Helen from pushing him back down onto the bed._

_'You know Sophie always was a stupid girl,' Helen muttered, 'She let someone like you go.'_

_For the past week Stephen had been berating himself for thinking that he deserved the attention of anyone, especially when he felt that his work, and conserving the planet, should be more important than his own personal life. __But here was someone who wanted to be with him, someone who seemed to care about him..._

_'I always loved __you're__ idealism and... __attentiveness__... especially when I'm telling you what Nick's really like...'_

_Somehow his logical mind was rebelling against how wrong this was, how he shouldn't be doing this, and just seemed to grasp onto the fact that someone said they loved him..._

_Stephen stirred a while later, blearily opening his eyes and noticing Helen pulling on her boots on the end of the bed._

_'Where are you going?' he asked blearily.__ Helen turned to look at him, running a hand down his bare chest; the look in his eyes made Stephen feel very self conscious and he sat up, backing away from her slightly and very thankful that the sheets had at least half of him covered._

_'I shouldn't tell Nick about this if I were you,' she said, 'He'll make sure you lose any chance of finishing your degree. He'll probably stop you getting the type of job you wanted as well.'_

_Stephen frowned, 'You wouldn't help me? You've got as much voice as he has.'_

_Helen gave him a smile, one that he couldn't quite place the emotion behind it._

_'Tonight was fun Stephen, just what I needed but... you're sweet, but I have more important things to worry about than a student with crazy ideas, a sense of idealism that is bordering unrealistic, and who supports theories with very little basis like my husband's. Thank you, Stephen, you've been a wonderful... lover... but I... maybe one day we could be together.'_

_Stephen couldn't believe what he was hearing._

_'But... I thought...'_

_'What? What did you think Stephen?'_

_He just looked __away,__ he didn't want to give this cold, taunting Helen the satisfaction of seeing any of the hurt that would definitely be showing in his eyes. Helen kissed his cheek, running a hand down his chest that Stephen hit away._

_'Now don't be like that...' she seemed to think for a few moments, 'How far would you be willing to go to be with me Stephen?'_

_He looked at her, looked into her eyes as much as he could in the dim light, and thought he saw compassion and love there, 'I'd do anything for you.'_

_'I'll remember that... and possibly hold you to it,' she replied before standing up and walking to the door._

_'Maybe you should give more credit to what Sophie says about you,' she commented, a final blow to his tattered emotions, before leaving the room and closing the door behind her.__ Stephen turned and slammed his hand into the wall; he gasped as pain shot up his arm, he'd left a dent in the wall he'd have to fix and his hand was now bleeding. He cradled the bruised hand to his chest before falling back onto his pillow, emotionally exhausted, and falling asleep. __Tears of rejection, pain, and self loathing slowly soaking into the pillow._

_(End Flashback)_

Abby watched Stephen's face with growing disbelief. Helen had done that to him? Sleeping with him when he'd just had his heart broken by a girl he trusted and then calling the night 'fun'. If Abby had thought Helen was a bitch before it was nothing to what she thought of the woman now. She saw Stephen trying to hold back his emotions, but not enough for her not to notice the tears welling in the corner of his eyes. She put a hand to his face and turned it so he was looking into her eyes.

'There's nothing I really agree with Helen about, Stephen,' she told him, 'But I have to agree with her when she said it's a pity there's not more men like you in this world. Whatever else she said, whatever else she made you believe or think, just listen and believe this: you are one of the kindest, bravest, most loyal people I have ever met, and I'm glad I have met you.'

Stephen looked at Abby in awe, and eventually she smiled and pulled him closer.

'Come here you,' she said, pressing her lips to his, comforting him in ways words couldn't. When they pulled apart Stephen looked down at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead as the tears he had been fighting to hold back broke free. Abby pulled him closer, holding onto him as she felt her own tears leaking from her eyes. They stayed like that, both holding the other in joint support of the other, and the need for comfort from the other. He knew there were things she hadn't told him, but he knew they'd have to left for another day; there were reasons she was holding back and he wouldn't push her. The things they'd told each other, the pasts they'd shared, had managed to bring them closer together and he knew, when the time was right, he'd be able to tell her what he'd been afraid to for so many months.

_A/N: Well here it is, another chapter finished. Thank you to my reviewers, I hope you got the replies I sent you, I thought it was more personal than doing it at the end of each chapter, and it also means I can reply straight away!_

_Was the first episode great or did I dream it? Can't wait for the next one! Although I am a little worried at the lack of __Stabby__ so far this series... I have a bad feeling that Abby might end up with Connor..._

_But enough of the possibilities of lost pairings... it's too depressing... Thank you to all my readers, and a special thank you to my reviewers!_

_Next chapter focuses more on Nick and Connor... possibly with Abby at the zoo as well for the meeting with Abby's new boss!_

_Please review on this chapter... I want to know what you think about Abby and Stephen... did I ruin their characters with their pasts, should I burn and rewrite the chapter or was it okay? PLEASE review because if you didn't like it I'll alter bits you didn't like because this will come up again later in the story... a lot later but it does come up._

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	9. What's Happening?

**Chapter 9 – What's ****Happening**

Nick opened the door to his house and threw his coat onto a chair, collapsing onto the sofa and rubbing his temples with one hand. Where was Claudia Brown? Why hadn't Lester got back to him yet? Where was Connor? What was happening between Stephen and Abby? Talking about Abby what had been wrong with her today? Nick groaned as the questions thundered around his brain; giving him the headache from hell. A headache which wasn't made any better by the sound of his phone ringing, the high pitched ringtone piercing through his brain.

'Cutter,' he said, closing his eyes and leaning back against the back of the sofa.

'I've found you're mysterious Claudia Brown, so sound a little more interested, Professor,' Lester drawled down the phone. Nick sat up quickly.

'Where is she?'

'That's the big question isn't it? She disappeared. She was a member of the Home Office who just vanished just before you were assigned to the anomaly project,' Lester answered, 'Now you'd better come up with some answers, professor, because we need them.'

Nick sat frozen in place as the dial tone sounded at the other end of the phone. Claudia had disappeared? Just before he'd joined the anomaly project, which meant he would never have met her had he not been through the anomaly into the Permian. How could this have happened?

_Helen..._ was it possible his unbalanced wife had something to do with Claudia's disappearance. The sound of his doorbell ringing jerked Nick from his thoughts; he stood up and, still in a daze, went to his door and pulled it open. There on the steps was Connor, complete with two bags and a slightly guilty expression.

'Professor... we may have a bit of a problem...' Connor said; he frowned when he noticed the Professor's slightly glazed expression.

'Are you okay?'

'Connor... we may have more than a _bit_ of a problem. Come in.'

The student walked past Nick and into the lounge. Nick followed him and sat in one of the armchairs, facing Connor as he sat on the sofa.

'Firstly what's this problem you mentioned?'

Connor sighed and looked at the floor.

'It's Duncan...'

* * *

(About two hours earlier)

Connor stood on the doorstep, fidgeting nervously as he waited for the door to be opened. He'd left his mother's earlier; telling her there was a problem with Duncan after she'd asked him why he seemed so distracted. She knew about Tom's death, though not the exact circumstances, and she'd told him to go see Duncan; she'd been feeling a lot better so Connor didn't feel as guilty about leaving her a few days early. The door opened and Duncan looked out through the small gap at Connor.

'Hey, Duncan, it's Connor,' he said; Duncan pulled the door open with a questioning look at his old friend.

'What are you doing here? You didn't call did you?' Duncan asked. Connor shook his head.

'No I stopped by on my way back from my mother's,' he explained, 'I need to talk to you Duncan.'

'What about?' the larger student asked, leaning against the doorframe.

'About that post you made on the internet about the anomaly project. You mentioned Tom! Do you really want the same thing to happen to someone else that did to Tom! It was because we were so into conspiracies that he died, because he couldn't see the truth! He died thinking I'd killed him!'

Duncan fixed Connor with an unwavering stare. 'People deserve to know the truth, Con. If you want to do the right thing see if you can find out when a group of us are meeting to discuss the anomalies. Other people who have seen them and know the truth. People who want others to know what's happening.'

With that he shut the door in Connor's face. The student stood on the pavement pounding on the door for a few minutes before he let his arms fall dejectedly to his sides. Connor knew that Duncan was right about having to tell people; he also knew that this was the worst way imaginable to go about doing it. It was just going to cause panic and make their job harder. Connor groaned when he realised just how much like Lester he sounded.

_What am I going to do?_ He wondered, _I can't tell Lester, he'll have Duncan locked up before he could blink and Duncan would never help us like he did when we were trying to find Tom... maybe I should just go to the professor..._

With that thought firmly in place Connor decided to go see Cutter, tell him what had happened and ask him what they should do. He knew the older man hated Lester and so knew that, if he did suggest going to the government official, it would be the only option they had.

He picked up his bags that were currently sat on the pavement by his feet and started to make his way down the street, and towards Cutter's house. Casting one look back at the closed door and wondering just how his life had managed to get this complicated.

* * *

Abby took the note off of her locker and unlocked it, casting another curious glance over it.

'Hey Abby!' she turned at the sound of Rachel calling her name.

'Hey, how's Lily doing?' she asked, putting her stuff in her locker and slamming the door shut.

'Damn thing sticks...' she muttered as she turned to face Rachel.

'Yeah she's fine. Have you got a note about going to see the new boss?' Rachel asked, holding up a note almost identical to the one Abby had stuck on her locker.

'Just seen it, I've got to see him in ten minutes. I might just go straight over there now. When are you going?'

The two women started to make their way out of the staff room.

'Five minutes,' Rachel replied, as they changed their course towards the main office. They entered the slightly stuffy building and took a pair of seats in the waiting room. Just as they sat down one of the other keepers came out looking like he was about to hit the roof.

'Sacked me,' he told them, 'He's thinning down the work force to save money and some of us have got to go. You should both be fine,' he added, noticing their worried faces, 'Everyone knows you two are two of the best workers in this place.'

'Rachel, it's your turn,' the PA said.

'See you in a bit,' Abby told her.

'Good luck,' the other keeper replied before turning to walk out. He paused at the door, grinning at Abby.

'Don't fancy going for a drink do you, Abby?'

Abby laughed, 'Sorry, Mike, I'm taken.'

Mike raised his eyebrows, 'Who's the lucky man?'

Abby smiled, 'You wouldn't know him.'

Five minutes later and Rachel walked out looking relieved.

'My job's safe,' she told Abby, 'And I'm being assigned back to Lily.'

'That's great!' Abby said, she noticed the PA waving her over, 'I'll see you in a few minutes.'

'I'll wait for you,' Rachel told her.

'What happened?' Rachel asked her when she came out. Abby took a deep breath.

'My jobs under the loses,' she replied, 'As of today I'm taking the rest of my holiday and am no longer working here.'

Rachel looked at her in shock.

'But Abby you're one of the best workers we've ever had! We all-'

'Rachel stop,' Abby pleaded and the brunette did as she was asked. The Abby before her now reminded her of the Abby she'd taken to the clinic a few years ago.

'It's probably for the best,' she said, 'I'd probably have had to have left in a few months anyway... what with this government project I've got to help with...'

Rachel brought the blonde into a hug.

'No one will stand for it, Abby! We'll go on strike or something... you can't just leave us...'

Abby laughed as she hit her friend lightly on the shoulder.

'Stop talking like that and come help me pack up my locker. I've got so much crap in there that's built up over the years it'll take all day to clean it out!'

Rachel laughed as they entered the staff rooms. The pair stopped at the locker that said 'Abby Maitland' on it and Abby smiled slightly.

'I always said I hated this damn locker because all it ever does is stick...'

'Won't have to put up with it anymore,' Rachel pointed out.

'Thank God!' she replied, yanking open the offending piece of metal. They looked up as Phil, the main tiger keeper, walked in.

'Abby I just heard. Smith's gotten rid of you as well? He's getting rid of some of our best keepers! We'll have hardly anyone left at this rate... we only managed to keep hold of some keepers because we had you two to keep them here,' he said the last bit with a grin. Rachel rolled her eyes at him.

'Oh leave off you. Anyway Abby has a mystery man that she's not telling us about,' Rachel said, casting a sly look at Abby. The blonde responded by rolling her eyes and smiling to herself.

'Well since this will be one of the last times you're here as a keeper under me I'll have to get it out of you won't I?' Phil said, walking over to Abby and starting to tickle her.

'Phil! Get off!'

'Is this him?' Rachel asked, picking up a photo that had fallen out of Abby's locker. Abby burst out laughing when she saw who was in the picture. It was a picture of her, Nick and Connor that Stephen had managed to convince them into having done.

'That's our team leader and my flat mate,' she replied.

'Hey introduce me to this flat mate of yours at some point,' Rachel said, 'He looks quite hot.'

'Connor? Let me warn you he's a geek with a capital G,' she said, Rachel shrugged.

'No one's perfect,' she said, smirking at the blonde.

'Is this him?' Phil asked, holding up yet another photo that had found its way into her locker. Abby took it off him with a smile. It was a picture of her and Stephen talking when they'd faced the aerial predators, Connor had taken it and she'd managed to convince him to give her a copy.

'Yeah that's Stephen,' she replied. Rachel looked over her shoulder.

'How come you get all the hot guys?' she demanded; Abby shoved her playfully.

'Alright you two break it up. Have you thought of names for those tigers yet?' he asked them. Abby and Rachel looked at each other; Abby smiled sadly.

'Name one Tim, he deserves to be remembered somehow,' she told him, going back to her locker and finishing emptying it of anything important. The junk would be put in the bin when she brought it over.

'What are you calling the girl?' Rachel asked him. Phil smirked.

'Well since she saved her life we've decided to call her Abby,' he replied. Abby turned, beaming, to wrap her arms around the older keeper.

'Thanks, Phil,' she said.

'Then the other one should be called Stephen,' Rachel said, ''Cause it's been too long since I've seen Abby this happy over a guy.'

Abby laughed, 'You're a sentimental sob at times.'

_A/N: OMG I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update! This chapter did prove difficult to write though... for some reason it just wouldn't come to me... Anyway enough of my excuses..._

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed... if you didn't get your replies I need to resend them '__cos__ my email was going a bit funny when I was trying to send them and I don't know which ones sent and which ones didn't._

_Next chapter will be up soon __with,__ yep you guessed it, more __Stabby__! Well I need to make up for the lack of it in this series sobs quietly I'm sorry but what is up with Stephen in this series? He's going slightly evil and going towards Helen... don't do it Stephen!!! Leave the stream of abuse leaves her mouth woman alone and __go back__ to Abby! coughs ahem... anyway..._

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed and thank you to the readers who are staying by me._

_PLEASE tell me what you think... I promise the main plot line is going to be appearing soon... possibly in the next chapter actually... if I can manage it..._

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


	10. Safety Net

**Chapter 10 – Safety Net**

Stephen looked up as he heard the door open, frowning slightly; Abby didn't usually get back for a while when she worked at the zoo. Plus it would mean he might have to rethink his plan for a surprise dinner. He abandoned his hunt through the kitchen cupboards and walked into the main area as Abby threw a bag down by the side of the door.

'You okay?' he asked, leaning against the wall slightly as he watched her. Abby turned around sharply and he could have sworn he saw her blinking away tears.

'What's wrong?' he asked, crossing the gap between them in a few strides and placing a hand on the side of her face, rubbing away a tear with his thumb.

'We met Tim's replacement at the zoo today... he's slimming down all the projects and...'

'That includes jobs doesn't it?' Stephen guessed, it wasn't really a question but Abby nodded anyway, 'And that includes yours.'

He pulled her into a hug, he knew how much the job at the zoo had meant to Abby, for her to lose it now, when the team was currently trying to work through a rough patch was the worst timing imaginable. Abby wasn't crying, she just held onto Stephen, soaking up the comfort that was radiating from his body helped keep her tears at bay. She'd done too much crying over the past few days, she didn't want to do anymore. She didn't have the energy to.

'What do you fancy for dinner tonight? I was going to surprise you, but since you're here you might as well choose.'

Abby looked up at him with raised eyebrows, 'You were going to cook dinner?'

'Hey, I can cook!'

'Never said you couldn't' Abby said innocently. Stephen pretended to look hurt as she laughed and pressed a kiss to his lips.

'So what were you thinking of cooking?' she asked him.

'Lasagne sound alright?' he asked, leading her to the kitchen. Abby smiled.

'You bet!' she perched on the counter and watched as he went back to looking through the cupboards. Just then the doorbell went; groaning Abby slipped down from the counter.

'I'll get it,' she told him. Even though the day hadn't started off well Abby had a smile on her face; she knew she was the luckiest woman in the world to have found someone like Stephen, and she doubted anything could ruin her mood now. Not after the day she'd had so far anyway. She pulled open the door and realised just how wrong she had been.

'What are you doing here?' she demanded. The man on her front step smiled.

'Hey Abby,' John Baker said, 'How are you?'

'Get out of here,' she snapped, closing the door. John caught the door with his hand and blocked it with his foot.

'Now that's not very nice,' he chastised, 'I came here to give you something.'

Abby's eyes narrowed, 'I couldn't give a damn why you're here but if you don't leave I'll call the police.'

'Now don't be like that, Abs.'

Abby froze, her eyes widening in shock.



Stephen frowned in concentration as he put the pan on the side; he couldn't hear what was being said at the door but he could hear Abby's tone had changed, and he had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He walked to the top of the stairs and listened to what was being said below. He heard Abby say she was going to call the police and his frown deepened. Who was at the door?

'Now don't be like that, Abs,' he heard a male voice said. After a few seconds of silence he heard Abby speak again.

'Get out.'

'Oh come on, baby, you can't say you haven't missed me at all.'

Stephen had a sickening suspicion he knew who was at the door and quickly went downstairs; he saw Abby blocking the gap between the door and doorframe and could see two men the other side of the door. He recognised the one on the left as the man from the office block, and could guess who the other one was. The dark haired man on the right pushed on the door, the combined efforts of both men meant the door was pushed out of Abby's grip and she took a step back. Stephen decided to intervene before things got any more out of hand.

'Abby, you okay?' he asked, closing the gap between them and standing at her side, wrapping an arm loosely around her waist, just like he had at the office block. Abby looked up at him with gratefulness in her eyes, she had to admit he had the best timing in the world.

'Who are you?' the dark haired man demanded.

'Hey, weren't you at the office the other day?' John asked.

'Yeah,' Stephen replied, 'Stephen Hart. Who are you?'

'Just an old friend come to catch up with Abby,' Tom replied; Abby subconsciously moved closer to Stephen's side.

'Who were just about to leave,' she said, glaring at the two of them.

'Not even going to offer us a cup of tea, Abs? Man you've certainly changed,' Tom commented, smiling at her in a way that was making her extremely uncomfortable, 'You always made the best cuppa.'

He started to try and walk through the doorway but Stephen moved to block his way, his arm slipping from around Abby to be placed on the door.

'You've caught us at a bad time, we were just about to go out,' he said, keeping eye contact with Tom.

'Who are you to tell me what to do?' Tom demanded, glaring at Stephen; he felt Abby place a hand on the small of his back and he straightened up, tightening his grip on the door so he was ready to push it shut.

'I'm her boyfriend, and she just told you to leave. So unless you want the police to drive you home I suggest you go,' he replied, closing the door before either man had time to reply or to move. He quickly slipped the chain across and turned around to look at her.

'Come here,' he said, holding his arms out; Abby moved into them almost immediately, and she felt them tighten around her. She never felt safer than she did when he was with her.

'Thank you,' she said; Stephen placed a kiss to her hair.

'You should have called for me when you knew who it was,' he told her, running a hand up and down her back.

'They caught me by surprise, I have no idea how they found me.'



He shushed her, 'They're gone now. If they come back I'll make sure to leave them in no doubt they're not welcome.'

Abby looked up at him, 'Just don't do anything stupid.'

'When have I ever done something stupid?' he asked, at her look he quickly added, 'Okay, on second thoughts don't answer that.'

Abby laughed and pressed a kiss to his lips, 'One thing.'

'Oh? What's that?' he asked, smiling at the mischievous look in her eyes.

'You told Tom you were my boyfriend,' she said, 'But you never actually asked me yet. For all you know I might want someone else.'

'You little minx,' he laughed, tickling her ribs. Abby squealed and managed to wriggle out of his grip and took off up the stairs, Stephen close behind her.

She ran around one of the tanks, putting the snake between them and grinned as she feinted left and right. When his gaze went down to eye the snake with uncertainty she raced around the left of the tank and around the couch, just managing to pull her arm out of the way before Stephen had a chance to grab it. She ran up the stairs to the bedroom, laughing and gasping as she stumbled a little when she made it. She tried to run around the other side of the bed but Stephen had caught her up and looped an arm around her waist and pulled her onto the bed with him, turning over so he was straddling her waist, successfully pinning her down. Both were laughing and gasping for air, as he tried to tickle her once more.

'No! Stephen, stop!' she managed to gasp out. Grinning, Stephen decided to take pity on her and stopped, letting his hands rest on her stomach. Smiling up at him, Abby let her hands travel up his arms to rest behind his neck, pulling his head down to press her lips against his; his hands slid up her torso from her stomach, his fingers pushing up the material of her shirt as they went. His lips moved from hers and trailed down to her jaw line and down to her neck, lifting from her skin only when he pushed her top over her head. He paused to look at her. Abby smiled up at him, pulling his shirt over his head and running her hands over the well defined muscles, once or twice they even crept over scars, the most obvious one being the one on his shoulder where the Arthropleura had bitten him. She sat up and pressed a kiss to the puckered scar, her arms around his back holding him close; she trailed kisses along his shoulder and up his neck to capture his lips with hers again. He was like a drug and she was addicted with no hope of rehab.

'Abby...' his voice was husky and it sent shivers through her body. He slowly leant down, pushing her back onto the mattress, a predatory gleam in his eye that had Abby shivering in anticipation. His body covered hers, her body fitted perfectly between his arms, their legs tangled together and the fingers of one hand running through her bleached hair.

'I love you,' she whispered, placing a hand on the side of his face and caressing his features, the roughness of forming stubble making her fingers tingle. She watched in wonder as Stephen's face seemed to transform with those three words; his eyes softened and the lust in them was replaced by love that seemed to radiate out of the blue depths and warmed her to her stomach. He seemed to lose a few years as his features softened and Abby felt suspicious wetness forming in the corners of her eyes.

'I love you, Abby,' he told her, 'My beautiful, brave, strong Abby.'

He pressed a kiss to her mouth with each word, and Abby felt the tears finally break free, holding onto his shoulder's as if Stephen was her lifeline as she drowned in him. The moment was 

ruined when the doorbell went for the second time that day. Abby froze and Stephen propped himself up on his elbows.

'Stay here,' he told her, wiping away the tears that had fallen with his thumb, 'I'll go see who it is.'

He picked up his shirt from the floor and pulled it on, as he turned and quickly ran down the stairs and down to the front door Abby knew he'd always be her safety net, always catching her whenever she fell and she couldn't help but love a little bit more. He pulled it open as Abby padded down beside him, her shirt back on and a smile on her face when she saw who it was.

'We've got summons,' Nick said with an eye roll, 'Lester wants us at the Home Office by six.'

'He's giving us two hours to get there?' Abby asked in disbelief.

'It's Lester... what he wants he seems to get,' the Professor answered. Abby laughed and beckoned Nick and Connor to come in, shooting an anxious glance outside for any car that wasn't normally there. Knowing she was being paranoid she shook her head and pushed the door shut, if it was a little quicker than normal only Stephen noticed.

'Anyone want a cuppa before we leave?' she asked, when she only got negative answers she shrugged and grabbed her bag and phone before pulling on her shoes and coat and following the other three team members back out of the door. Falling into step beside Stephen as she asked Connor about his Mum.

_A/N: Hey, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update! I've been up to my eyes in coursework and exams. One week and it's all over! The other good news is that I've actually got this whole story planned! Which means all I have to do it follow my plan... and some of the scenes are already written! In my defence though I am still mourning the loss of Stephen cries_

_Thank you to everyone whose stayed with me and been patient. I'm still wishing Stephen was still alive and that he'd just shoved Helen in instead, I know I would have done!_

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed. The next chapter will probably be just a bit of fun and silliness but it's just to get the main plot going. I promise everything will start becoming clear soon!_

_Ciao for now_

_Starsword_


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